MOSQUITO CONTROL
(The benefit of installing Dragonfly Stations)
Here is how the BioSensory Dragonfly can help…
1. As a lure that keeps mosquitoes away from you.
2. Arranged to form a barrier to block mosquitoes.
3. As a monitoring device to count and report mosquito
activity.
In stand alone applications, placing the Dragonfly
between you and mosquito habitat gives mosquitoes
a lure that smells better to them than people do.
Remember that the visual range of mosquitoes is
about 30 feet. It is important to keep the Dragonfly
at least 30 feet away from your deck, pool, porch
or patio, so that mosquitoes drawn to it cannot
see you as you move about. Then use ConcealTM on
your deck, pool, porch or patio to mask your scent.
Scientists at Collier Mosquito District in Florida
proved that Praxair CO2 and BioSensory Biting Insect
Lures spaced 20 feet apart formed a 2,400-foot barrier
that protected the Stevens’ Landing Condominium
community. And did so at a cost saving compared
to aerial pesticide treatment.
Propane mosquito catchers say they will clear an
acre of mosquitoes. What area will the Dragonfly
clear?
A single CO2 mosquito trap cannot eradicate mosquitoes
over an acre (3,700 square meters), and we believe
the claim is misleading for three reasons. First,
mosquitoes move around during their lifetime, and
some species are even considered migratory. While
its true some mosquitoes are homebodies that don’t
travel much, dangerous mosquitoes – disease
vectors – all travel several hundred meters
in search of blood hosts. So even if it was possible
to eradicate all mosquitoes within an area, others
would quickly move in. Second, mosquitoes are among
Mother Nature’s most prolific breeders. If
only one male and female survived, under ideal conditions
they could produce 27,000,000 offspring in a month!
Finally, all CO2 traps rely on the wind to disperse
CO2. Mosquitoes smell the CO2 and are drawn to the
trap. Since the wind cannot blow in all directions
at once, a CO2 trap cannot attract mosquitoes from
every direction at once, which is what it would
have to do to clear the area. Consider this. The
propane trap produces about 500-cc/min CO2. That
is roughly the equivalent of the respiration of
two 250-pound men. Now imagine that two big men
sat in a one-acre field all summer. Furthermore,
imagine that both men are perfect mosquito catchers
who never miss a mosquito that lands on them. After
six weeks, are there still mosquitoes in the field?
We think so.
Other mosquito catchers run day and night to collapse
the mosquito population by breaking the breeding
cycle. Can the Dragonfly also do this?
Another misleading claim. Anyone can “collapse”
the mosquito population. Just wait for hot dry weather!
Mosquito populations rise and fall rapidly. For
example, during the 5-year development of the Dragonfly,
USDA scientists spent several weeks in the field
testing prototypes. In the first three weeks we
collected 500,000 mosquitoes and 1,500,000 biting
midges. Seven to ten days after a rain, a brood
of mosquitoes would emerge, and mosquito collections
would soar into the thousands. Two hot, dry weeks
later there were none to be found. Did our prototypes
collapse the mosquito population? Of course not!
The hot, dry weather did. Did our prototype break
the breeding cycle? No. Next time it rained mosquitoes
were back by the thousands.
Should I run the Dragonfly 27/7?
No. Mosquitoes aren’t active 24 hours a day.
Nothing is. Few areas of the United States have
day biters, and night biters – mosquito activity
for 18 hours per day. That’s why we designed
the Dragonfly with three selectable levels of CO2
and automatic photocell activation at dusk. The
new Dragonfly Professional is even more sophisticated.
It can sense mosquito activity, turn itself on and
off as needed, and optimize the level of CO2 to
what is needed for the level of mosquito activity.
The propane mosquito catcher who makes that recommendation
does so for a reason. Their product has to run continuously.
It isn’t designed to do otherwise. They recommend
continuous operation because its all their product
can do. To motivate users who must continually feed
its insatiable appetite for propane (even during
hot dry weather when there are no mosquitoes around),
they turn the empty collection bag into a reward
for the user – it becomes proof they have
‘collapsed” the mosquito population!
To have their cake and eat it too, they tell users
that mosquitoes in the collection bag are not a
failure to collapse the population, but proof that
the machine works!
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