Below are my posts that discuss Spartan Mosquito (AC2T, Inc.) of Hattiesburg, Mississippi.

I never intended to publish more than my original 2019 review, but AC2T’s retaliatory lawsuit against me (#2 on the above list) prevented me from visiting my mom while she was dying and has cost me $90,000 in legal fees (update: I countersued the company, successfully). I will continue to expose this company until it goes out of business.

Background

This television clip is a good introduction to the Spartan Mosquito Eradicator and to the company’s frontman, Jeremy Hirsch:

Are you a journalist?

There’s likely a fun story here. Owner of sandwich franchise becomes head of award-winning, $100 million company that sells tubes of sugar water to kill mosquitoes. Inventor says, “We’ve come up with the most economical, easiest, most effective mosquito-control measure pretty much in the world”.

When I pointed out that device is totally unlikely to work, company lashed out with a SLAPP to bankrupt and silence me. A lawyer in New York read my post and used it as the basis for a $5 million class action suit (but I won’t get a penny). Soon after, separate teams of scientists confirmed that, indeed, Spartan Mosquito Eradicators cannot and do not work. Shockingly, the FTC and EPA have done absolutely nothing, and even the American Mosquito Control Association cowered in silence, fearful of itself being sued. Only a handful of states have banned sales of the tubes.

And in 2020, Spartan Mosquito even managed to get a version of its tube approved by the EPA, a feat engineered by the lobbying firm behind Brexit. Scientists are horrified. You can now buy the tubes on Amazon, where they’re marketed as a beneficial pest-control insects. Only California sees the scam and bans sales.

Will the FTC ever get involved? Does the EPA know that it’s been snookered?

And how on earth did the tube get registered for sale in the first place, in Mississippi? Answer, political pressure (the Branch Director of the Pesticide Program wrote, “I was told from above to approve“).

If that’s not enough drama for a good read, there’s pornography and NASCAR in the mix (racy, eh?). And I’m guessing that Spartan Mosquito hired a private investigator to pry into my personal life (they posted online comments about my wife). I suspect there is also a lot of delicious information on the company’s failed effort to get a foothold in Africa (all that’s left is an archive of the shell company’s website). There’s even talk of a military discharge file with highly pertinent information. And talk of governors in multiple states intervening on behalf of the company, pressuring pesticide regulators.

There’s also plenty of footage of Spartan Mosquito on YouTube. There used to be more but the company has been deleting it. I can’t say I blame them.

Here’s the sole article that’s been written about Spartan Mosquito: “A Biologist, a Blog, and a Mosquito Control Dispute” by Brooke Borel and published in Undark Magazine.

Are you a state pesticide regulator?

Please consider contacting your counterparts in states that have denied registrations to Spartan Mosquito (CA, CT, ID, IN, KS, ME, MT, NE, NM, NY, OK, PA, UT, VA, WA, and DC) and ask for a copy of the letter sent to the company detailing the reason. You can also ask the Region 4 EPA office for the “Letter of Warning” sent to Spartan Mosquito in 2018 that details why the Spartan Mosquito Eradicator does not satisfy the conditions for exemption from registration under Section 25(b) of FIFRA (i.e., the company has falsely claimed it is exempt).

Are you an EPA or FTC enforcement officer?

I would recommend taking a close look at the efficacy data (field trials, case studies, cage experiments, etc.) that the company has been sending to state lead agencies for the Eradicator. Spartan Mosquito is apparently sending data that show a 95% reduction in mosquito populations (to support the claim of 95% efficacy that appears on the box). It would be very interesting, therefore, to know how they managed to get such results. I.e., because salt is not lethal to mosquitoes, the purported 95% reduction must be due to bad experimental design, selective data reporting, or simple fabrication. If it’s the latter (involving lying to the EPA and to state regulators), prison time for some or all AC2T employees is not out of the question.

I’d also recommend scrutinizing the claim on the box (and on instructional brochure inside, and on company’s Facebook page, and on video ads) that mosquitoes will be “drawn” to the tubes. Here’s the issue: Spartan Mosquito admitted to a state regulator (in 2019) that the Spartan Mosquito Eradicator does not emit enough carbon dioxide to attract mosquitoes. Yet the company has continued to make the “draws mosquitoes” claim for years, assuring state regulators that all the claims on the label are true. This seems to be an example of the company, and perhaps its attorneys as well, of knowingly misleading state and federal pesticide authorities. The EPA should also ask the company to provide the CO2 production data for the Spartan Mosquito Pro Tech to see whether the same issue is at play (the company claims the tube attracts mosquitoes).

If you work at the EPA and know details on how the Spartan Mosquito Pro Tech got its registration, please consider reporting your concerns to the Office of the Inspector General. Did the company receive a data waiver? Did efficacy fall below the 95% population reduction required by EPA? Do you have evidence that regulatory shortcomings are being hidden from the public? You can make a tip anonymously.

Are you John Oliver?

This company’s products would make for a fantastic deep-dive into the proliferation of ineffective mosquito control products in the United States and how some states allow these products on shelves even when it’s pretty darn clear they don’t do a thing. Pills, creams, bracelets, zappers, tubes of sugar water. Spartan Mosquito has taken it to the next level and deserves to be exposed for the hive of charlatans it is.

Here’s one of the company’s commercials for the Spartan Mosquito Pro Tech that you can show and say, “coooool.” True fact: the lobbying firm behind Brexit helped to get that tube approved by EPA. Here’s another heartwarming commercial (for its original tube) that involves a guy slapping his kids. For footage of the frontman I recommend this. Or this. Here’s my YouTube playlist with more options.

You could tie segment in with SLAPPs because the company has served me with one. And you could ask your favorite Mosquito Control Board why Spartan Mosquito Eradicators are banned in over a dozen states but not in New Hampshire. You could also ask the American Mosquito Control Association why it hasn’t released its scientific report on Spartan Mosquito.

The company’s Facebook page is also worth a look. They rarely post about their magic tubes, instead opting to rile up the base with, for example, calls for less government interference in business and veiled support for truckers who use their vehicles to protest vaccination requirements. And, more recently, a subtle reference to the Tea Party featuring an Edwardian boy in a dress eating something with a spoon.

Most importantly, Spartan Mosquito owns a rather nice mascot suit and I bet the guy who built it will make one for you. It goes well with attractive models dressed as Spartans, and maybe you could get the whole gang to picket the beautiful Spartan Mosquito production facility in Laurel, Mississippi, for a photo op. For added fun, please give them signs that say, “Release the efficacy data!”, “Please hire a biologist”, and “It’s spelled ENTOMOLOGY no ETYMOLOGY”. I would be entertained.

Consider donating to my GoFundme campaign

My legal battle with Spartan Mosquito is over but I’m still $36,000 in the hole. Donations and/or shares would be hugely appreciated: https://gofund.me/fe59f642.

Research conducted in Florida found no evidence that Spartan Mosquito Eradicatiors are effective mosquito-control devices. Below is my reconstruction of the two experiments they conducted. One was in the laboratory, one was outside.

Laboratory experiment

Below is a rough reconstruction of the laboratory experiment they conducted. In each of the cages (BugDorm-2120), 100 male and 100 female tiger mosquitoes (Aedes albopictus) were released, then monitored for mortality at 24, 48, and 72 hours.

Here is a photograph of one of the choice cages:

Below are the cumulative mortality data for the three cages. The Spartan Mosquito Eradicator filled with the provided packet ingredients (treatment) did not result in higher mortality. I.e., there was no evidence the device killed mosquitoes under laboratory conditions.

Field experiment

The researchers also conducted a field experiment using two sites that had large populations of tiger mosquitoes (because of the presence of tires). At each site they deployed five tubes (separated by 4 m), switching whether the tubes were “treatment” or “control” tubes every 2 weeks. A BG-Sentinel trap (without carbon dioxide) was used to quantify mosquito numbers every week.

Below are the weekly numbers of mosquitoes caught in the BG Sentinel traps. Results: there was no evidence that presence of treatment tubes (filled as per company guidelines) reduced the numbers of mosquitoes at the sites.

Conclusions

The scientists concluded that “Both laboratory and field components of our study show that the Spartan Mosquito Eradicator is not effective in reducing abundance of Ae. albopictus.” They speculate that the contents do not attract mosquitoes and that the holes on the device (~3 mm) are too small for mosquitoes to easily reach the fluid inside. They also highlight the need for an experiment to evaluate whether the active ingredient (1% sodium chloride) kills adult mosquitoes. I.e., even if mosquitoes were attracted to Spartan Mosquito Eradicators and could easily get inside, the salt might not be lethal.

Aryaprema, V.S., E. Zeszutko, C. Cunningham, E.I.M. Khater, and R.-D. Xue. 2020. Efficacy of commercial toxic sugar bait station (ATSB) against Aedes albopictus. J. Florida Mosquito Control Association 67: 80-83. PDF

Update: the salt experiment has been conducted. And the result is that salt does not kill mosquitoes.

All of these results are no surprise to anyone. Please see my 2019 review of the Spartan Mosquito Eradicator for details. I also reviewed the Spartan Mosquito Pro Tech, the company’s newest tube. It is just as effective. I.e., they are equally ineffective.

Colin Purrington's blog

nature photography / natural history / misc

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