Plastic Bottle Mosquito Trap

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Hello dear friends!

As some of my followers already know, I live in Bologna (Italy), in the heart of Po river Valley.

This area is known as the wettest one of Italy. This is due to terrain, level (a lot of areas are UNDER sea level) and weather.

These factors result in very hot temperatures in summer, very cold ones in winter, an incredibly thick fog but, mostly, giant and aggressive mosquitoes.

There is a city, Comacchio (only 55 miles from Bologna), that is known as the "Mosquitoes Town". XD

Obviously is nothing tropical, but it's very annoying!

It's really difficult to enjoy summer evenings without using pesticides, sprays or other stinky poisons. Or, you can always avoid using anything and... be eaten alive by these little vampires.

While mosquitoes are useful for the ecosystem (did you know that mosquitoes are the main cocoa plants pollinators? No mosquitoes means no chocolate!!!), we don't want them to fly around our garden and bite everything that's alive, pets included.

In this Instructable, I want to show you an all natural and potentially free way to create an efficent mosquito trap with little more than a plastic bottle!

Why potentially free? Because we will use materials that are always present in our home!

Ready?

Let's start with our shopping list.

Step 1: Shopping List

For our trap we will need:

• Plastic bottle (2 liters one is good)
  
• 4 spoons of white sugar
  
• 10gr (0.70oz) Brewer's yeast (freeze-dried one or fresh)
  
• 200ml (6.75oz) water (and a pot for boiling)
  
• Tape
  
• Black cardboard (or similar dark covering)
• Scissors

Optional for hanging

• String
  
• Liquor can container (like Baileys one, look at the images for more info)
• Drill

If you have the liquor can container, you won't need black cardboard, we will see why.

NOTE: A lot of users reported me different results. Someone have found a full trap and some other an empty bottle after several attempts. You should experiment a bit by changing the amount of yeast in each traps, in fact only some kind of mosquitoes are attracted by this trap and the amount of CO2 released change the effectiveness depending on climate/humidity of your zone. For example, I've found a full bottle on the first attempt and much less dead mosquitoes in the next two bottles (with same recipe). I'm experimenting different mixtures in these days ;)

As you can see, these are very common and easy to find materials.

I didn't have to buy anything except for the brewer's yeast (I can't find fresh one...darn).

Let's move on the first thing: cutting the bottle!

Step 2: Prepare Your Bottle

The first thing to do is cutting your bottle at the right height.

You have to cut 2-3 cm (about 1 inches) over the point where the bottle becomes thinner (the grip).

Use your scissors for that, or a Dremel if you have one! :)

You don't need to be super precise, but try to make a straight cut.

Now you have 2 separated pieces.

Easy, isn't it? :)

To the mixture!

Step 3: Mixture

Now, put 200ml (6.75 oz) of tap water in a pot and boil it for 10 minutes.

This will eliminate the possible presence of chlorine.

Don't boil more thank 10 minutes, or too much water will evaporate.

While water is still hot, add 4 spoons of white sugar and mix until everything will be dissolved.

Now wait until water is at room temperature.

It's important, or high temperatures will kill the yeast and deform the plastic bottle.

Then, pour the sweety mixture in to the big part of the bottle (obviously).

Finally, add the brewer's yeast.

Don't mix yeast! If you do so, the reaction that attracts mosquitoes will NOT last longer.

Now that the mixture is ready, put the top part of the bottle inside the big one, face down, to create a funnel (the picture shows it well).

Finally, close the border with some tape to fix it up and make te cap hole the only way in-out for mosquitoes.

I've used black tape for electrical work, it's good for this kind of fixing.

Step 4: Prepare for Hanging

This step is optional, but I highly recommend it.

You can finish now your trap by wrapping the bottle with black cardboard to add a sun protection (not from the heat but from UV).

But, if you want a more stylish solution, I suggest the use of a liquor can container (the Baileys one is very popular).

Use a drill to open two holes near the top of the can, in opposite directions.

This holes will be used to create a knot with some string and use this can as a "hanging bottle container".

You will have a easy and quick way to change bottles without the need to take them down from hanging every time!

A bottle case ;)

Plus, this covering will protect the bottles from UV sun rays.

Finally, you won't have to make holes on the bottle surface, making some precious CO2 to go outside (next step to discover why!)

Step 5: Ready for the Hunt!

Now make a knot in the other hole of the can and hang your trap outside!

In your garden or in your balcony, the best place is a dark and humid one, not exposed to direct sunlight.

But, how does it work?

The brewer's yeast produce a small but continue amount of CO2, that, mixed with the high sugar amount in water, creates a smell that is irresistible for mosquitoes!

So, these little devils fly inside the small hole of the bottle cap and get stuck, with no way out except for the hole itself. The percentage of mosquitoes that fly out again from the trap is ridiculously low.

The cover (black cardboard or the can) prevents UV rays from killing yeast and stopping CO2 production.

Also, we use tape around corners to prevent CO2 from going out from the bottle in "high" quantities.

The amount of yeast (10gr) last for about 2 weeks.

After this time, you will have a bottle full of mosquitoes! :D

You can clean it and fill it with new mixture, or prepare a completely new one.

With the quick change hanging system, it will be easy to have a new trap in minutes! :D

You now have a 100% natural and green trap, with zero amount of poisons or other harmful chemicals!

Hope you'll like and help you from getting bit ;)

From Italy, this is Filippo

Ciao a tutti!