If you have a bug zapper up, it's time to take it down. A University of Delaware study analyzed nearly 14,000 insects killed by bug zappers over a single summer. Mosquitoes accounted for 0.22% of them. Less than one quarter of one percent. The other 99.78%? Moths, beetles, midges, fireflies, and other beneficial insects doing exactly what your yard needs them to do. Here's why it's even worse than it sounds: mosquitoes don't find you by light. They find you by carbon dioxide, body heat, and skin chemistry. Your bug zapper is completely invisible to them. Meanwhile it's running all night massacring the pollination night shift. Moths are among the most important nocturnal pollinators alive, and they're flying straight into your zapper because they navigate by light. Bug zappers kill over 70 billion insects annually in the US. Harvard Medical School's Zika page specifically warns against them, noting they may actually increase mosquito populations by eliminating the beneficial insects that prey on mosquitoes. What actually works: eliminate standing water within 100 feet of where you spend time outside. That's your best bet. It's time to break up with the bug zapper.
