{"id":17,"date":"2026-11-13T08:00:18","date_gmt":"2026-11-13T08:00:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pittartrap.com\/science\/"},"modified":"2026-11-13T08:00:18","modified_gmt":"2026-11-13T08:00:18","slug":"science","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/pittartrap.com\/?page_id=17","title":{"rendered":"Mosquito science \u2014 how host-seeking really works"},"content":{"rendered":"

The evidence base<\/p>

The mosquito chooses the trap. We only build it.<\/h1>

Three cues decide most catches: carbon dioxide, warmth with moisture, and the wavelength of light. Everything else \u2014 wattage, housing, price \u2014 is engineering arranged around those three.<\/p><\/div>

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Design review, Dongguan.<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div>

The cue chain<\/p>

Host-seeking, in the order it happens<\/h2>

Carbon dioxide<\/h3>

A resting adult exhales roughly 100\u2013200 ml of CO\u2082 per minute into a plume that drifts, dilutes and bends with the wind. A trap that releases gas steadily, at the right height, reads as a host. A trap that releases it in bursts reads as nothing at all.<\/p>

Heat and moisture<\/h3>

At close range the insect switches from long-range plume tracking to convection: a surface a few degrees above ambient, plus humidity, is enough to trigger landing behaviour.<\/p>

Light<\/h3>

UV-A around 365 nm is the phototaxis band for most nocturnal Diptera. Species that hunt in daylight \u2014 Aedes aegypti<\/em> and Aedes albopictus<\/em> \u2014 respond to contrast and movement more than to UV.<\/p>

Lactic acid and contrast<\/h3>

Lactic acid on skin, dark shapes against a bright background and the movement of a host complete the approach. This is why the same trap catches less against a white wall than against vegetation.<\/p><\/div><\/div>

Species<\/p>

What you are actually catching<\/h2>

The species decides the family, the height and the timing. This is the short version we use in quotations.<\/p><\/div>

Species<\/th>Where it breeds<\/th>When it bites<\/th>Family we specify<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
Aedes aegypti<\/em><\/td>Domestic containers, vases, water tanks<\/td>Day, indoors and out<\/td>CO\u2082 trap + UV indoor unit<\/td><\/tr>
Aedes albopictus<\/em><\/td>Tyres, pots, bamboo, tree holes<\/td>Day, shaded<\/td>CO\u2082 trap + UV indoor unit<\/td><\/tr>
Culex quinquefasciatus<\/em><\/td>Drains, septic water, stagnant pools<\/td>Night<\/td>CO\u2082 trap<\/td><\/tr>
Anopheles<\/em> spp.<\/td>Ponds, irrigation channels, rice fields<\/td>Dusk into night<\/td>CO\u2082 trap, sited near water<\/td><\/tr>
Mansonia<\/em> spp.<\/td>Water with floating vegetation<\/td>Night, outdoors<\/td>CO\u2082 trap near vegetation<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure><\/div><\/div>

Method<\/p>

How a prototype earns its release<\/h2>

A housing that looks better but catches less does not go to production. Four checks decide.<\/p><\/div>

01<\/p>

Release and recapture<\/h3>

Cages in the yard, counted at fixed intervals against a control trap.<\/p><\/div><\/div>

02<\/p>

Catch per night<\/h3>

We compare nightly totals, not peak hours, so a warm week cannot flatter a design.<\/p><\/div><\/div>

03<\/p>

Power and climate soak<\/h3>

Units run continuously through heat and humidity cycling before release.<\/p><\/div><\/div>

04<\/p>

Field feedback<\/h3>

Distributors report species and siting; those notes feed the next revision.<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

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Limits<\/p>

What we do not claim<\/h2>

No trap clears a neighbourhood. A single unit reduces the biting population in its immediate radius; source reduction and community action do the rest.<\/p>

We also do not publish a catch number without the conditions behind it \u2014 species, season, siting and control. A figure without those is marketing, not data.<\/p>