DynaTrap DT1260-TUNSR Mosquito & Flying Insect Trap with Pole Mount – Kills Mosquitoes, Flies, Wasps, Gnats, & Other Flying Insects – Protects up to 1/2 Acre

Why did you pick this product vs others?:We chose this particular item over similar ones due to the great reviews and the report of how quiet it was. We have a wonderful front porch we like to sit on in the evening and early morning to have a hot drink and listen to the birds, watch the dog play and just relax. The mosquitoes here in Alabama are serious and just would not leave us alone. We were sick of covering ourselves with stinky bug spray and then needing a shower right after, so, we decided to try this trap. There are so many things we like about this product. It looks really nice, not like a bug trap at all. It’s well made and was simple to set up and get running. Basically plug it in and let it do its thing. Keep it plugged in 24 hours a day as instructed for it to work. It draws in the flying bugs and they suffocate/dehydrate inside, then you just open it up and dump them out. Close it back up again and you’re ready to go. It makes no noise except the sound of the bugs hitting the sides when they get caught inside which was music to our ears. Does it get rid of 100% of the mosquitoes? No. Did we expect it to? No. But, we went from only being able to stand our porch for 5 minutes before being literally covered in bites to sitting outside for hours with maybe one or two bites. WOW! What a huge difference. I imagine even those couple will be eliminated over time as the population decreases. I so stress that you have to keep it on 24 hours a day. Great value for our money and we highly recommend this product. We’re planning to get another one for the backyard once we put in our patio.

Summary: Read the product literature; works as advertised and directed. Place away from common gathering areas and start early in the year.A bit of background: I live in Zone 8a (Dallas, TX) and the summers here are hot and, at time, uncomfortably humid. My particular neighborhood was built over wetlands a half-century ago. Because of that, there's ample ground for mosquitoes to live and reproduce. My body reacts very poorly to mosquitoes; I tend to develop welts that get bright, bright red and take a week or two to heal properly. Often, during summer evenings, I'm limited to staying indoors unless I decide to douse myself in pure DEET.Not wanting to harm a declining bee population, I employed a multi-layer approach to controlling the mosquito population to reclaim my summers. First, I set traps along the perimeter of my property (about 1/3 acre) in some Home Depot buckets with bacillus thuringiensis subspecies israelensis pellets (BTI) (just water and some pellets). I set these out as soon as the last freeze passed. I change out the buckets about every 3 weeks, or after a big rain. I also put pellets down into the catch basins of my property's drains. This way, any water flowing out of the drains will be treated with the BTI and the mosquito reproductive cycle interrupted. Any standing water around my property also gets BTI treatment every 3 weeks.Next, this is where the Dynatrap comes in. I setup the Dynatrap at the corner of my property, about 100 feet away from our patio, where we congregate or spend most of our time outside. I set up the trap about two weeks after the last freeze. This was around the time the soil temps reach 55F and I fertilized our yard. I included a small octenol lure in the basin of the trap to boost its effectiveness. Once setup, I left the Dynatrap running 24/7. I think this is where people get hung up. In order for the product to work, it has to constantly run. It serves as a "good enough" bait target when humans aren't around.Think of it this way: if you're driving from Austin to Dallas and want to eat BBQ, you'll stop at the Rudy's in Waco and it's fine. But if you're in Austin or Dallas, you're either getting Franklin or Pecan Lodge. The Dynatrap is the Waco Rudy's. When there's no humans (Franklin or Pecan Lodge), then the Dynatrap works in attracting mosquitoes. However, if you're around, you're a better snack than the Dynatrap. This is why it's so important to 1) put the Dynatrap in a part of your yard you do not frequent and 2) leave it running 24/7.After emptying the trap for the first time, I noticed about 3 dozen mosquitoes. While it doesn't sound like a lot, it means these 3 dozen early-season mosquitoes do not have a chance to reproduce and make hundreds, maybe thousands, more. Also, if you take away places they can reproduce (with the BTI traps and pellets), it drastically cuts down their ability to reproduce effectively. I change the octenol lure every 3 weeks, in conjunction with me applying more BTI pellets to my drains and standing water traps.In addition to the BTI treatments and Dynatrap, my last line of defense is a repellent. I spray a mosquito barrier (99% garlic juice) around the perimeter of my property every 2-3 weeks depending on the amount of rain we receive. This seems to sir them up pretty good and chase them away.So far, so good. I'm not expecting complete mosquito elimination, and neither should you. Anyone knocking this product because they plugged it in and got a bite a day later is setting unrealistic expectations and not reading the product directions. The instructions specifically say you need to wait 42 days.However, I am expecting a reduction in the amount of bites I get on a warm June evening. Also, I'm not expecting the Dynatrap to be the end-all, be-all solution to mosquito control. Mosquito control requires vigilance and consistency. I'll need to treat standing water all around my property until the first freeze. I also know my mileage may vary if my neighbors don't do their part. However, with BTI, the Dynatrap, and mosquito repellants, I think I stand a fighting chance at enjoying my summers outside not doused in DEET.UPDATE 7/30/21. We’ve been using the Dynatrap all spring and summer. We had an extraordinarily wet spring into mid summer, causing an explosion of mosquitoes in the area—but not in our back yard. To be clear: we still have some mosquitoes around and we still use bug spray, fog, and other preventative measures, but there’s a noticeable drop in mosquitoes when we’d otherwise be swarmed.We still change out the octenol lure every 3 weeks, use garlic juice around the perimeter, and wear bug spray. I think the Dynatrap works pretty well. I’ll report again at the end of the season.In sum:-Read the directions.-Read the directions, seriously.-Place away from where you gather, leave running 24/7.-Use a lure to maximize effectiveness.-Start early in the season.-Consider using other controls techniques to maximize mosquitogeddon.

Didn't work, but why? I live in Southern California around Malibu. We have a small amount of mosquitoes, essentially not a problem. The problem we have is with the Canyon Fly (Fannia Benjamini). In the professional article below it is said that they are hard to control, but that they are attracted to CO2, which is why I bought this bug trap. Sadly, the trap caught none of these pests. They were in my ear, biting my neck, and generally swarming me with the bug trap empty within feet of me. Perhaps the manufacturer has an explanation for why this species that is supposedly attracted to CO2 won't enter their trap? Are they genius flies? Did they read "DynaTrap" on the device and warn all of their friends? Money was NOT well spent on this thing. What a disappointment.CANYON FLYCanyon flies (Fannia benjamini complex) are an emerging urban pest in California. These are native flies that have existed in western North America for a very long time. There are seven related fly species within this complex, which collectively are called "canyon flies" due to their geographic association with natural canyons, particularly those within coastal and inland mountain ranges where oak trees dominate the landscape. While distantly related to the other Fannia flies mentioned above, these flies do not appear to develop in animal feces or fermenting green waste. Our best guess at present is that these native flies develop on moist decaying plant matter or leaf litter. However, one canyon fly species (F. conspicua) has become quite problematic in Southern California in recent years following the introduction of an exotic succulent ground cover plant called red apple (Aptenia cordifolia) which was first introduced into the United States in the mid-1980’s and is now widely planted in hillside communities for erosion control and fire protection. The decaying understory of red apple has proven to be an excellent developmental site for this fly species and canyon fly numbers can become incredibly problematic in communities where this plant is common.Adult canyon flies are similar in size to the little house fly but can be distinguished from other flies by their three-spotted abdomen and yellow coloration at the base of their antennae.Like other Fannia flies, canyon flies are not tolerant of high temperatures and adult numbers tend to peak from late spring through early summer, with a second peak in late fall. Their daily activity is also restricted by temperature with activity generally limited to the cooler morning and evening hours during these seasonal periods of peak abundance. The life cycle of canyon flies is similar to other Fannia flies, and the larvae have the same general morphology—flattened body shape with fleshy spines.DamageCanyon flies feed on the body secretions of animals, such as tears, mucus, sweat, and blood from open wounds. Their persistent attempts to land upon the face and body of the host can result in considerable nuisance to humans. While they cannot bite or make a wound to feed upon blood, they do have small prestomal teeth on their mouthparts which they can use to scrape at mucous membranes around the eyes of animals to encourage production of tears or other eye secretions. These flies have been associated with the transmission of an eye worm to cattle.Management of Canyon FliesAdult canyon flies are very difficult to manage. Because these flies feed on animals, they are attracted to several odors associated with animals including carbon dioxide (CO2), a component of animal breath. Traps baited with carbon dioxide will readily capture at least one species of canyon fly (F. conspicua), but removal of these flies using CO2 traps has not proven sufficient to reduce their nuisance. The only successful strategy identified to date for management of these flies is removal of the red apple plant that serves as the developmental site for F. conspicua. For other canyon fly species that do not develop in red apple, there are no management strategies that have proven to be particularly successful. Application of insecticide by fogging vegetation bordering a residence has given some short term relief, but this type of management strategy is not recommended as it impacts many beneficial and benign insect species and typically only provides some management of canyon flies for a few days.