Tag Archives: mosquito

Bti honeypot traps for killing mosquito larvae

Leave a reply

An easy way to kill thousands of mosquitoes each summer is to drop some Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis (abbreviated to “Bti”) into containers filled with stagnant water. The photograph below shows one fashioned out of a litter box, but any large container will work. Then just lob in a Mosquito Dunk (made by Summit) or any equivalent product that contains live Bti spores, and repeat every three weeks so that there is a fresh supply of bacteria. Over the summer months, hundreds or thousands of females will find the container and oviposit onto the water surface as well as any objects such as wood and terracotta pots placed inside. When the larvae begin to feed they’ll be killed by the toxins produced by the bacteria.

Tips

As you can see from the photograph, I’ve covered the container with chicken wire. This prevents birds from drowning but also serves to prevent dogs, foxes, deer, and raccoons from draining the water, which they do quickly in my yard.

To increase the attractiveness of the water, add a handful of leaves or grass, which decompose but emit distinctive volatiles (not CO2, fyi) that attract gravid females.

I’ve also added a board that is partially submerged so that Asian tiger mosquitoes have something wet and rough to oviposit onto (they don’t oviposit onto the water’s surface like many other species). I set the board at an angle so innocent insects might be able to climb up out of the water when they fall in. Terracotta pots are another excellent option because the entire surface stays hydrated, something that mosquitoes love. Even some dry leaves floating on the surface will do the trick.

Finally, I recommend adding some sort of white object (like a yoghurt lid weighted down with a rock) that allows you to easily view larvae wriggling around; if you see them you need to add a fresh Mosquito Dunk or equivalent.

When siting your honeypots (the more the better) opt for locations that don’t get direct sunlight, are near vegetation, and are at the bases of larger trees. And it’s totally OK and even preferable to have each of your honeypots set up in a different way. E.g., if you live in an area with yellow-fever mosquitoes (Aedes aegypti), add some salt (0.25%) to increase oviposition rates. And other species of mosquitoes like large amounts of rotting vegetation. Your yard has dozens of different mosquito species so the trick is to identify your problem species and then design a honeypot that attracts them best.

PRO-TIP: If you don’t mind eye-sores in your yard, use tires. Asian tiger mosquitoes go bonkers for them. For slightly prettier traps you can cut tires apart and make ovillantas (“egg tires”). Smithsonian Magazine has a nice overview of these traps (just swap in Bti instead of the pesticide). You’ll need a Sawzall-type tool to cut through tires with metal reinforcements.

Purge your yard of standing water

Bti honeypot traps won’t do a thing if mosquitoes have plenty of other sites where they can dump their eggs. So get rid of all the objects that are accumulating water: kid toys, plastic tarps, saucers under plant pots, etc. And make especially sure that your gutters are free of clogs. If you’d like a visual guide to the places that accumulate water, see this page. The success of Bti honeypot traps will also be improved if you can somehow get your neighbors invested in removing their stagnant water, too. One trick for getting neighbors on board is to make sure one of yours is highly visible when you have people over for dinner. When they ask what that is, have one ready to gift them. The more neighbors participating, the better.

Are they working?

To determine whether mosquitoes are ovipositing, just look for egg rafts on the surface of the water. Eggs from Asian tiger mosquitoes (Aedes albopictus) are oviposited singly or in small groupings on the edges of the container or on pieces of wood. If there are eggs and no larvae, the Bti is doing its thing.

Raft of mosquito eggs (Culex sp.) next to a dead female mosquito.

Warning

After a few weeks the bacteria will die off, so you have to keep adding new Bti throughout the summer, approximately every three weeks. But as mentioned above I think it is a good habit to glance at your containers every several days to confirm that the Bti is doing its thing. If you are not vigilant about refreshing the Bti all those containers will start pumping thousands of mosquitoes into your yard every week and your neighbors with loathe you if they don’t already. So if you like to start projects but not maintain them, Bti honeypots are not for you. Here’s what mosquito larvae look like:

Are they safe?

Bti toxins are completely nontoxic to mammals, birds, and all insects except mosquitoes, black flies, and fungus gnats. For an excellent overview of the mode of action and safety, please see this report (PDF).

Sources of Bti

Other sites with similar information

Killing adult mosquitoes

If you also want to kill adult mosquitoes, please see my post on autocidal gravid ovitraps. Several companies sell them but you can make your own. I own a half-dozen of these traps AND a similar number of Bti honeytraps.

Autocidal gravid ovitraps made by Biogents and Springstar.
Boxes of Spartan Mosquito Eradicators and Spartan Mosquito Pro Techs.

Spartan Mosquito settles class-action fraud suit for $3.6 million

15 Replies

This week, details of the settlement in the class-action lawsuit against Spartan Mosquito (Hattiesburg, Mississippi) were revealed. The lawsuit accused Spartan Mosquito of falsely advertising that the Spartan Mosquito Eradicator (yeast, sugar, table salt) and the Spartan Mosquito Pro Tech (yeast, sugar, boric acid) attract and kill mosquitoes, and that the company did so with the full knowledge that such claims were false.

Components of the settlement

  1. Spartan Mosquito will pay approximately $3,600,000.
  2. People who purchased either of the products between December 21, 2016 and August 2, 2023 can submit claims for compensation.
  3. Spartan Mosquito will no longer make or sell the Spartan Mosquito Eradicator.
  4. Spartan Mosquito will conduct efficacy tests on the Spartan Mosquito Pro Tech for 18 months, and if testing reveals lack of efficacy the company will change the formulation or cease sales.

Here is the full text of the two non-monetary provisions (bolding mine):

  1. “12.1. As of the Final Effective Date, Defendant will no longer manufacture or sell the Spartan Mosquito Eradicator. However, the Parties acknowledge that some third-party wholesalers, distributors, or retailers outside of Defendant’s control who previously purchased the Spartan Mosquito Eradicator for resale may continue to list the product for sale, and such sales will not be attributed to Defendant for the purposes of this Section 12.1. This Court shall have continuing jurisdiction if a dispute arises between Class Counsel and Defendant concerning Section 12.1.”
  2. “12.2. During the 18-month period following the Final Effective Date, to the extent not already performed, Defendant will conduct research regarding the efficacy of the Spartan Mosquito Pro Tech. Following the 18-month period, to the extent such testing shows a lack of efficacy for the Spartan Mosquito Pro Tech, Defendant will either update the formulation or cease sales of the Spartan Mosquito Pro Tech. This Court shall have continuing jurisdiction if a dispute arises between Class Counsel and Defendant concerning Section 12.2.”

The first part is uninteresting because the company stopped producing and selling the Spartan Mosquito Eradicator in 2020. It made this decision presumably because approximately 18 states had banned sales and more are likely to do that in the future. More importantly, the company decided to advertise that the new version (Pro Tech) needed to replaced every 30 days (instead of every 90 days) and that twice the number of tubes were needed per acre. I.e., the new tube would generate much more profit.

The second part is concerning. Although it says that if the company can’t show efficacy of the Spartan Mosquito Pro Tech by early 2025 then it must stop sales, the wording suggests that the company will be allowed to conduct its own efficacy testing. The wording also appears to allow Spartan Mosquito to assert that it already has such data. Such wording virtually guarantees that the company will be allowed to continue making and selling its tubes even though they do not attract or kill mosquitoes. I.e., examination of the company’s testing data (which I obtained via public records requests) shows that Spartan Mosquito does not have any field testing that shows (1) mosquitoes are attracted to the Pro Tech, that (2) mosquitoes drink the fluid inside the tubes, or that (3) the numbers of mosquitoes are reduced in a given area. The testing documents (which include details on experimental design) also show that Spartan Mosquito doesn’t currently employ personnel who have the requisite qualifications to run field trials or even basic laboratory experiments. Indeed, all of their tests are so poorly done that they were labelled, “not conducted in full compliance with Good Laboratory Practices” (an EPA term).

The second part also says that if efficacy cannot be shown, that Spartan Mosquito must “update the formulation.” Under this scenario, the company would need to submit an entirely new registration application to the EPA, complete with new efficacy tests. I think the EPA would be extremely unlikely to ever grant another registration to this company. I suspect the company knows this, which will motivate them to claim, despite evidence to the contrary, that the current formulation has efficacy.

Both parts contain an interesting phrase, however: “This Court shall have continuing jurisdiction if a dispute arises between Class Counsel and Defendant.” Optimistically, I take that to mean that if Spartan Mosquito sells the Pro Tech without ever sharing convincing evidence of efficacy, the presiding judge, the Honorable Katherine Levine, may intervene in whatever way she sees fit. Attorneys on both sides signed off on that binding language so it will be very interesting to see how this goes down. I will make sure she’s kept up to date.

Why did Spartan Mosquito settle?

Aside from avoiding paying the full $5 million asked for in the original charge, Spartan Mosquito was likely concerned, or should have been, that the evidence that would be revealed during a trial would be used by attorneys at the Environmental Protection Agency, which has apparently been collecting information on the company. In particular, the EPA can ask for prison terms for any individuals who knowingly mislead the government about pesticide efficacy. The co-founders, Jeremy Hirsch and Chris Bonner, could have been advised by their attorneys that they had some exposure in that regard. For example, if both of them have known for years that the tubes don’t produce enough carbon dioxide to attract mosquitoes, then asserting to federal regulators that the tubes attract mosquitoes would be a knowingly false claim. And that appears to be what they did.

More information

Please see my previous posts about Spartan Mosquito, or email me.