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We – InsectCop – are professionals when it comes to mosquitoes and how to better control them. To help you fight those annoying, blood sucking and diseases transmitting insects we have developed this extensive mosquito fogger and control guide, which includes such subjects as:

• Mosquito biology, areas they live and breed, how they find humans, what diseases mosquitoes transmit and how to treat your skin after a mosquito bite;
• What are the most popular medical and natural mosquito repellents and how effective they are;
• The most common tools to kill and control mosquitoes (mosquito foggers, traps and zappers) and do they work;
• What are mosquito foggers and why they are considered one of the best method for mosquito control;
• Comparison between thermal and cold foggers and how to use both fogger types;
• Where and when you should fog to reach better results and kill more mosquitoes;
• What currently are the Top fogger manufacturers;
• InsectCop TOP5 Best mosquito foggers for personal use chart.

Find complete reviews in our new mosquito fogger article.

Mosquitoes

What a mosquito is and where it lives?

If you have come across this website there is a high chance that you already know what a mosquito is. But for those who do not know, a mosquito is a small insect from Culicidae family. There are over 3500 discovered mosquito species in the world. Mosquito population has spread all around the world and only places you won’t find at least a single mosquito breed are Iceland, Antarctica and few smaller islands. Mosquitoes love humid and warm climate, but they do live in colder areas with regular winters and hibernate trough a winter same as other insects and bugs. Most of mosquito species suck blood out of humans, animals, birds, reptiles and other living beings, however, only female mosquitoes have specific mouthparts to pierce skin to access blood vessels, so male mosquitoes actually do not suck our blood.

Most mosquito species prefer humid, dark and warm places to reside and reproduce. The largest part of mosquito species are more active in evenings and early mornings. Mosquitoes females need still water to lay their eggs, so you will find majority of mosquitoes residing near a standing water reservoir. Mosquitoes can use both natural or artificial places with water to lay their eggs. Some of the more common areas where you will find mosquitoes are:

• around vegetation – shrubbery, flowers, plants, trees;
• in buckets, cans, old tires from water resistant material such as metal, plastic or rubber that are filled with water, also clogger rain gutters;
• larger, artificial areas filled with water, such as swimming pools, outdoor baths and others;
• natural areas with standing water, which include swamps, ditches, ponds, lakes, wet lawns or gardens and other similar areas.

Mosquito biology

Male mosquitoes live a short life, but female mosquitoes that sucks our blood live from 3 to 4 weeks depending on a specie of mosquito. Mosquitoes lay eggs in a standing water that can be either in artificial tanks that have collected rain water such as old tires or buckets, or natural sources of standing water like ponds and swarms. After female mosquito has laid eggs in the water they develop for about 7-10 or more days (different times for each mosquito specie). Mosquitoes have 4 development stages  – egg, larva, pupa and adult mosquito. When mosquitoes hatch from eggs, they are in larva stage and it takes about 4-7 days to develop from larva to pupa to adult mosquito. When mosquitoes have reached an adulthood they can start to breed and mosquito life cycle continues.

Why and how mosquitoes bite?

While you might think that mosquitoes bite because they need blood to feed themselves like some sort of vampires or they just want to get on your nerves, you are wrong. First of all, biting is done only by female mosquitoes and male mosquitoes doesn’t even have such mouthparts that can be used to pierce a skin and suck blood. Male and female mosquitoes need sugar for energy, so they feed by drinking nectar from flowers. Female mosquitoes in addition need protein that can be found in blood for egg development. So mosquitoes actually don’t drink our blood to feed themselves, but to provide necessary substances to develop their eggs.

Mosquito mouth parts. Source – http://wiki.bugwood.org

How mosquitoes bite is actually a pretty complex process. To be able to pierce skin and suck blood mosquitoes have total of 6 organs that are located in the head. The only mouthpart of a mosquito we see is called proboscis, which is basically the trunk of the mosquito, but inside of proboscis there are multiple different organs. Labium is a cover for other mouthparts and doesn’t go into the skin. Inside a labium there are such mouthparts as 2 mandibles, 2 maxillae, 1 hypopharynx and 1 labrum. Mandibles and maxillae are used to pierce the skin, so hypopharynx and labrum can be inserted into the skin. Hypopharynx and labrum are tube like organs, hypopharynx is used to pump saliva into blood vessel to prevent it from clotting, and labrum is used to suck blood from a blood vessel. A mosquito will suck blood until its abdomen is full, or the pumping process gets interfered or until the mosquito is killed.

What attracts mosquitoes?

To know how to better avoid mosquitoes, you need to know what attracts them. As simple and primitive a mosquito may seem, it actually uses multiple ways to sense and find their victims. Scientists have not yet come with a complete list of things that attract mosquitoes, as there are over 3500 mosquito species and each of them prefer different types of attractors more than others. But there are some strong attractants that all mosquito species use to find their prays:

• Carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide is one of the strongest attractants for mosquitoes. Mosquitoes have a special organ called maxillary palp that can detect carbon dioxide. Humans and animals produce carbon dioxide when exhaling, so mosquitoes can find us practically any time, and as more we exhale, as more likely a mosquito will detect us in opposite to other carbon dioxide sources around. Some mosquito species can detect CO2 from as long as 150 feet (45 meters) away.
• Lactic acid. Lactic acid is released from our skin the most when we exercise and sweat and also when we eat salty foods. This is why mosquitoes are so attracted to people that sport and sweat.
• Fragrances and skin care products with flower and fruit aromas. Lots of fragrances such as sweet flower and fruit aromas will attract mosquitoes. Such fragrances can be found in products like perfumes, lotions, shampoos, washing powders, fabric softeners and others. Also skin care products that contain a lactic acid are strong attractants for mosquitoes.
• Moisture and sweat. Mosquitoes need water to breed so they are very good at locating moisture and water. People who are sporting produce a lot of sweat on their skin and also exhale more water particles with heavy breathing, which both will attract mosquitoes.
• Heat. Mosquitoes can sense heat that our skin radiate to locate blood vessels that are closer to the surface of the skin. Mosquitoes use heat sensing from a close range, when they have located a victim and are flying close to the skin or are landed on the skin.
• Movement. Mosquitoes can detect movement of objects closer to them. This is done by detecting changes in light waves of objects. Movement detection is not the primary sensing method for mosquitoes and they much often use carbon dioxide, heat and body odors to find their victims.
• Other body odors. A human body and skin produce over 350 known odors and some of these odors also attract mosquitoes. Each human body produce different amount of body odors, so mosquitoes are more attracted to some people than others. Experiments are being conducted of which odors are stronger attractants for different species of mosquitoes, but as there are lots of mosquito species and lots of different odors, many experiment still need to be conducted to find a precise answer to the question – what attracts mosquitoes?

What to use for mosquito bites?

If you have ever been bitten by a mosquito, you must know the annoying feeling of itching at the spot a mosquito has stung. Luckily there are ways to ease the swelling and itching feeling by using different natural oils or medical creams on the swollen area.

Some of the natural substances you can use on a mosquito bite are aloe vera oils, chamomile, lavender, tea tree oil, basil, lemon and lime, peppermint, cucumber, cinnamon and row honey. All these natural substances have anti-inflammatory effect that will help for itching and will heal the stung spot faster. If you want a faster effect you can look for medical creams and lotions for mosquito bites. Some of medicine you can use are Absorbine Jr. that instantly soothes pain and itching feeling, different gels and creams, such as Cetaphill skin cleanser, Vicks VapoRub and other, also rubbing alcohol will disinfect the bite and some people suggest using mouthwash liquids on the stung area that will relieve the pain and itching feeling faster.

Mosquito borne diseases

The most important reason to control mosquitoes and reduce their population is not because they annoy us, but because different mosquito species are carriers of multiple diseases that can harm our health as well as health of our household pets. The most common mosquito borne diseases are:

• Malaria – This is the most common mosquito borne disease, which has caused many deaths in African regions. Malaria is carried by the Anopheles mosquito specie that can be found in tropical and subtropical climates.
• Yellow fever – Yellow fever is another dangerous disease carried by mosquitoes. Regions where this type of disease can be found are tropical and subtropical regions such as Africa and South America. To enter countries where yellow fever is a problem, you must be vaccinated against this disease.
• Chikungunya – This type of virus carried by mosquitoes are more common in the Caribbean region and the symptom for this disease is strong joint pain. Carriers of Chikungunya disease are Asian Tiger and Yellow Fever mosquitoes.
• Dengue fever – This type of virus is carried by Asian Tiger and Yellow Fever mosquitoes and is present in different regions in North America, South America, Africa and Asia. Dengue fever a dangerous virus, for which there is no vaccine. Quick diagnostic and treatment is important and will allow for simple treatment of this disease.
• Encephalitis – This disease is more commonly transferred by thicks, but can also be carried by mosquitoes. There are different types of encephalitis and some of them also affect humans, however there are vaccines against this disease.
• West Nile virus – This is a very common mosquito borne virus that can be found in many areas from North America, to South Europe, Africa, Australia, India and Middle East. West Nile virus is not as deadly as other viruses carried by mosquitoes only about 20% of people infected my develop symptoms as fever, headache, rash and other, and just 1% of these people develop serious symptoms that require stronger medical treatment.

Mosquito repellants

The simplest way to get rid of mosquitoes is by using a mosquito repellent. There are multiple ways you can repel mosquitoes, either with natural methods (citronella oil, scented candles) or by using different sprays and lotions that contain mosquito repelling substances such as DEET, piciridin and others. We are going to look at the most common ways to repel mosquitoes and how effective each of these ways are.

Mosquito sprays and lotions (DEET, picaridin)

If you have ever tried to combat a mosquito problem, you have probably used an insect repelling spray or lotion. These are the most used mosquito repellents, because they are very easy to apply, are cheap to buy, do not take lots of space and most of them really helps to repel mosquitoes. Each of these repellents contain one or more active substances that blocks scents from our bodies that a mosquito can detect. Two of the most widely used active substances in mosquito repellent sprays and lotions are DEET and picaridin.

DEET insect repellents

DEET is a chemical name of the most common active substance used in insect repellents. When applied in a form of a spray or lotion to the skin or clothing, DEET makes us invisible to mosquitoes for certain amount of time, even up to 12 hours depending on the concentration of DEET in the repellent. Most mosquito repellents contain DEET in concentrations from 20% to 50%. Although there are no scientific evidence that DEET can cause harm to a human health, some people are allergic to it. There are numerous of safety cautions when applying DEET to skin and clothing. Until this day, DEET is still the best substance for mosquito repelling and no other substances with such strong and long effect have not been discovered. Remember that DEET will not kill mosquitoes, but simply repel them for few hours.

Picaridin is newer type of mosquito repellent that is used as active ingredient in sprays and lotions. Picaridin has advantages that it does not leave any oil stains, it doesn’t have a specific odor and doesn’t damage plastic materials in opposite to sprays containing DEET. Besides these two, also substances like permathrin and citronella oil are used in sprays. Permethrin needs to be applied to clothing, its effect can last up to few weeks, while citronella oil is a natural insect repellent.
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Natural mosquito repellents

If you don’t want to a use repellent that contains chemical substances, there also some natural mosquito repellents. Two of the most common are sprays and lotions with citronella oil and scented candles. In both sprays and candles the most common natural active ingredient used is citronella oil.

Lemon grass

Citronella oil sprays and lotions

Citronella oil can be obtained from leaves of a lemongrass plant. Citronella oil is used in multiple industries which include foods and beverages, perfumery, cleaning products and products for mosquito repelling. Citronella oil needs to be applied to the skin and provides from half and hour to few hours of protection against mosquitoes, as well as can be used to treat bitten areas on skin. Citronella oil, same as other repellents masks scents from our body that mosquitoes can detect, but instead of DEET and picaridin that provide multiple hours of protection, citronella oil will work for much smaller amount of time, just couple tens of minutes to an hour of protection. Citronella oil is usually used in combination with other substances in commercial products as sprays and lotions, but many people choose to make their own mosquito repellents from the citronella oil in combination with other natural products.

Scented candles

Scented candles that contain insect repelling substances are one of natural insect repelling methods. The biggest advantage of these candles is that they contain only natural substances. They work by releasing an active ingredient in air when burning, which blocks scents from our body that mosquitoes can sense and makes us harder to find for mosquitoes. The most common natural substance used in mosquito repelling scented candles is citronella oil. Although scented candles are quite cheap and made from natural products, they have some serious disadvantages. First, they will repel mosquitoes only in short distances, approx. 3 feet (1 meter) from the candle, so you must be near a candle all the time for some protection against mosquitoes. Also citronella candles won’t provide such strong protection as other repellents such as DEET. Next disadvantage is when the candle burns out the protection stops and mosquitoes will be able to find you. The last disadvantage is that candles release carbon dioxide in the burning process, which is a strong attractant for mosquitoes, and if the candle does not contain enough active ingredient, it will cause an opposite effect and instead of repelling mosquitoes it will attract them with carbon dioxide, so be careful what type of candles you use and make sure they contain insect repelling substances such as citronella.

What is the best insect repellent?

The best insect repellent currently is DEET same it has been for many years. DEET has proved to be very effective to blocking scents from our body that mosquitoes can detect and provides quite long work time. Other chemical substances as picaridin are also very effective and will repel majority of mosquitoes. We suggest using sprays that contain DEET as they are pretty cheap and can easily be applied to skin. If you don’t want to use chemical substances, you can try out either a citronella oil sprays and lotions or scented candles to get some protection against mosquitoes. But these natural repellents won’t provide the same protection as repellents with DEET.

How to kill mosquitoes?

Mosquito fogger

Fogger is a tool that is used to atomize and spray some sort of fogging solution such as insecticide, pesticide and sanitizer to treat a pest, mold, insect and other problems. Foggers can be categorized into two main categories – cold and hot or thermal foggers. Cold foggers use cold fogging techniques such as high air pressure to atomize the fogging solution, and thermal foggers use heat to vaporize a fogging solution to produce fog with very small particles of solution. There are indoor foggers made for usage in homes, warehouses and similar areas to get rid of pests, molds, mildew, odors and viruses, and there are yard foggers that are used to fog outdoor areas to control and limit population of different pests and insects in that area. Foggers are tools that can be used to treat small areas such as a single room in a house or a back yard, and also are used for large areas such as storage facilities, warehouses, outdoor fields and even large disaster affected urban areas. This is why both thermal and cold foggers have professional tools and personal usage tools. Professional tools have powerful electric or gasoline engines that can atomize high amounts fogging solution in short time and can be used to treat large areas. Commercial mosquito fogger can cost from couple hundred to few thousand dollars. Personal or home use foggers are much smaller, use less powerful engines, usually are made from a plastic material and have approx. 0.5-1 gallon (1.9-4 liter) tanks. Home use fogger will cost starting from 50$ for smaller thermal fogger up to few hundred bucks for powerful, high capacity electric ULV foggers.

While just few fogger models are made specifically for mosquito control, practically all thermal and most ULV foggers can be used to spray fogging solutions for insect control. When looking for a mosquito fogger first pay attention if the fogger is suited for outdoor usage, and second if it can be used with various fogging solutions. If it is a universal thermal or cold fogger there are high chances that it can be used to spray insecticide solutions for mosquito control.

Do mosquito foggers work?

Mosquito foggers are considered to be one of the best method for temporary mosquito control as well as a long term solution to mosquito problem and can be used to reduce mosquito count in a certain area. Unlike other methods such as many insect repellents and bug zappers that provide a temporary solution to a mosquito problem, foggers, if used continuously (few times a week depending on the size of a mosquito problem), can reduce a mosquito population in a certain range and even get rid of some mosquitoes species in that area for long time. Although mosquito fogger is an effective mosquito control method, if mosquito population in the area is very high, there will be need of multiple mosquito control methods together for a better result.

Mosquito trap

Mosquito traps are one of the most common devices used to repel and kill mosquitoes. There are basically two types of mosquito traps – homemade and commercial traps. Homemade traps are usually very simple tools that can easily be made at home and produce small amounts of carbon dioxide that attracts mosquitoes, but in most cases these traps will not provide a visible effect to reducing a mosquito population or repelling them. Commercial traps on the other hand are much more complex devices and can cost over hundred dollars. These are large in size tools that works on electricity or gas and use different type of attractions for mosquitoes. Most of these tools output carbon dioxide, same as humans and animals but in a larger quantity to attract mosquitoes not only from short range but also from further distances. Also most mosquito traps produce heat as infrared light to attract mosquitoes from short distance. Some traps flashes light in certain frequency that lure some mosquito species, and others produce different scents, such as octenol, to simulate scents produced by a human body. When a mosquito has been lured to the trap it gets captured into a special tray or net using a strong fan or they get electrocuted when they get in contact with an electric grid inside a trap.

Whether or not a mosquito trap is going to be effective depends on multiple factors, such as the location you use the trap, weather conditions, species of mosquitoes and the quality of the trap. There are proved experiments that mosquito traps indeed can kill thousands of mosquitoes over few day time and significantly reduce a mosquito population in the area. For a mosquito trap to be successful in mosquito control it must be placed close to the area where mosquitoes live and reproduce, if there are multiple such areas in your yard, you may need multiple traps, which will cost a lot more than other mosquito repelling and killing methods. Also you must constantly monitor the wind direction and move the trap accordingly, so that it reaches mosquito breeding areas. Each mosquito trap won’t work for all mosquito species, because each specie uses different attractants, while some may use carbon dioxide to find humans, others can prefer sensing odors from a human body, so while one trap can work for mosquito problem in tropical regions, it may prove to be ineffective for mosquito species in temperate climate zones and opposite. The effectiveness of a mosquito trap is also impacted by the quality of the trap, as there are lots of different mosquito traps on the market at price ranges varying from couple tens of dollars to multiple hundred dollars.

The last two things you need to know if you want to get a mosquito trap is that some poorly made traps may cause an opposite effect and instead of repelling or catching and killing mosquitoes they can actually increase the mosquito count in the area. Also mosquito traps have very high usage and maintenance costs, because most of these units work on electricity, gas or even both. Mosquito traps that work on gas will need a frequent replacement of the gas tank, which can cost from couple tens of dollars depending on the capacity, and traps that lure mosquitoes using chemicals such as octenol will also require those chemicals to be changed after time. If you need more guidance about usage and effectiveness of mosquito traps, check out our best mosquito traps article.

Bug zapper

Bug zappers or mosquito zappers are very popular tools that people use to kill mosquitoes and reduce their population. Mosquito zappers have advantage that they are generally cheap to buy when compared to mosquito traps or mosquito foggers and you can hear how they work, because when a bug or an insect flies inside the device, it gets electrocuted making a zapping noise (from which the name zapper was created). A bug zapper works by producing an ultraviolet light that lures many bugs and mosquitoes to the zapper, where they get electrocuted. While bug zapper might be effective to kill numerous types of bugs and insects and you may find hundreds of dead insect bodies in a tray, in reality only small percentage of insects killed are going to be mosquitoes and even smaller percentage female mosquitoes that actually do the biting, because mosquitoes use other attractants more than ultraviolet light such as carbon dioxide. And what is the worst part is that bug zappers will kill hundreds of good bugs that are useful for nature. And also if you place a bug zapper near, there is a higher chance that a mosquito is going to detect carbon dioxide from your breath, rather than get attracted by the ultraviolet light that zapper produce.

Insect foggers

Mosquito fogger types

Mosquito foggers have two large categories – thermal and cold foggers. Both of these fogger types can be used to spray insecticide for mosquito control, however, each of them works differently.

Cold vs thermal foggers – comparison of both fogger types

Cold and thermal foggers can both be used for mosquito control, but because each of these fogger types operate differently, they also have different pros and cons. We have compared ULV and thermal foggers in different categories, to better show advantages and disadvantages of both types for getting rid of mosquitoes.

Fog

Both fogger types actually produce different density fog. Cold foggers output solution more like fine mist that is practically invisible, while thermal foggers outputs cloud of an easily visible fog. Both types of fog have their advantages and disadvantages, but for mosquito control thick, dense, and highly visible cloud of white to gray fog produced by thermal foggers has more pluses. First, the fog produced by a thermal fogger is much easier to monitor and control, what makes the fogging process more effective. Second, it is much simpler to see that something is being done, and third, it is easier for the person operating the fogger as well as other people around to escape the cloud of fog that may contain substances that should not be inhaled. The advantage of much less visible fog produced by ULV foggers is that it doesn’t cause any traffic hazards if used in urban areas. Other than that it is much harder to control in which direction the fog flows, especially when fogging outdoors even in small wind. Also it is more difficult to avoid the fog cloud, which is hard to see and people might accidentally come in contact with the cloud that contains chemicals.

Droplet size and density

Thermal foggers produce tiny particles from 0.5 micron size. Because of the small particle size, the fog produced by thermal foggers is more dense than one produced by cold foggers. Such small particles have advantages for both indoor and outdoor applications. Because of the tiny size these particles will stay in air for longer time, increasing chance to coming in contact with mosquitoes or other insects. They can penetrate very small areas indoors, which can be an advantage when getting rid of molds or pests. Despite advantages, tiny droplets from thermal fog also has few disadvantages. Tiny particles can be easily moved even by smaller wind gusts, so outdoor fogging must be performed in a windless or near windless conditions. Second, particles under 5 micron size might be ineffective when coming in contact with a mosquito. Particles from 5-25 micron size are considered to be the most effective for mosquito control. Fog produced by cold foggers usually is in range of 10-50 microns, averaging on 20-40 microns, so the fog won’t be able to stay in the air for such a long time and larger sized particles won’t be able to reach all the smallest gaps and spots that fog from thermal foggers would access.

Efficiency

Thermal foggers are more efficient than cold foggers in few ways. First, they use lower concentration of active ingredient and second they need less energy and shorter time to output same amount of insecticide. However, cold foggers use a lot less fogging liquid and carrier, so they are generally cheaper to use, as you don’t need to purchase gas cylinders or fill the fogger with petrol. When using a thermal fogger you will need to change the gas cylinder regularly, which will result in much high operation costs.

Operation

ULV foggers will be simpler to operate than thermal foggers. With thermal fogger you need to light the burner of fogger, which can take time, if your fogger is not equipped with an automatic igniter, on cold fogger you simply turn the fogger on with a switch. Then with thermal fogger you will have to wait until the coil heats up, while cold foggers can be used instantly. The last thing is that you must fog in certain intervals with thermal foggers to produce a dry fog and fogging in short intervals will cause the fogger to produce wet fog and drip the solution out of a nozzle that can leave hard to clean stains on surface. Thermal foggers can be louder than cold foggers, when it comes to professional thermal foggers.

Majority of cold foggers can be used with water and oil based solutions, so most fogging liquids can be sprayed with an ULV fogger. As mentioned ULV foggers are simpler to operate and it is easy to control the flow rate and particle size of ULV foggers. However cold foggers are more difficult to maintain and repair, because they are made from more complex parts such as an electric motor, air pressure pumps, advanced nozzles and other parts.

Price range

When it comes to personal or home usage foggers, thermal foggers will cost you less than ULV foggers, because cold foggers are multi-use devices that can be used for all sorts of fogging works and can be used both indoors and outdoors, so they have more complex construction and functions. Thermal foggers for personal use can cost even two times less than ULV foggers. The average price of a thermal fogger is starting from approx. 50 dollars for personal use products up to few thousand for professional products, while the average price for cold foggers start at approx. 200 dollars and also goes over thousand dollar for professional equipment.

Safety

In areas where safety is a concern a cold fogger is going to be better suited than thermal fogger. Thermal foggers operate at high temperatures, which can cause fire risks when used indoors. The burning assembly of a thermal fogger can get very hot, which can cause burns to skin if touched with bare hands while operating. Also, thermal foggers output thick cloud of white to grey fog that can cause traffic hazards if used in an urban area. Another risk with thermal foggers is that they can drip fogging solutions and carrier from the nozzle if the fogger is not heated to proper temperature and outputs a wet fog.

Fogging insecticide

Insecticide is the liquid you pour into your fogger or any other device used to kill and/or repel mosquitoes and many other kind of insects and pests. It usually is powerful concentrated substance that has the abilities to not only kill adult insects, but also eliminate insect larvae and eggs to further ensure that the mosquitoes are abolished from your area and won’t attack and prevent you from enjoying time outdoors.

Insecticides

There are commercial grade insecticides as well as ones for home use, because insecticide is used in many different fields such as agriculture and even medicine, because the insecticide destroys also all the diseases and viruses that are carried by mosquitoes or other insects.

Insecticide is classified mainly by the way the insecticide works on insects and what type of substances are used to make these insecticides. This is why insecticides vary from very natural ones that have very little chemicals in their solution, to those who are full on chemical and also quite dangerous if not used right. And from those who affect insect nerve cells and kill them that way to those who target insect skeletal muscle, calcium channels and kill them by blocking insect nerve transmissions. The one type of insecticide especially worth mention is plaint-incorporated protectant, because it is formulated so that insects cannot build a tolerance against this insecticide.

There are four main insecticides that are used specifically when fighting mosquitoes. First there is Malathion that is more commercial grade, because mainly used to spry crops and rid them from mosquitoes. Then there is Permethrin that is not harmful to pets or humans, but might cause damage to bees and fish, and Scourge and Anvil is also a common mosquito repelling insecticide.

How to use a mosquito fogger?

Effective particle size for mosquito control

As mosquitoes are pretty small insects in size, smaller particles are more effective for mosquito control. Effective particle size for mosquito control applications is in range from 5-25 microns in diameter.

This particle size can be produced by most thermal and ULV foggers. Smaller particles in size are going to be less effective, because they can be easily cleared away from intended area with the slightest wind breeze, and also they might contain insufficient amounts of active ingredient that kills mosquitoes, so these tiny particles may be ineffective when coming in contact with a mosquito. Larger particles than 20-25 microns also won’t be so effective, because they are sprayed in much lower density and cannot fully cover an area in opposite to particles in smaller size. Also larger particles are heavier and will fall to ground in much shorter amount of time and so will reach lower amount of mosquitoes in the air. Particles in 5-25 micron range are the most effective size for mosquito control, as they contain enough active ingredient to kill a mosquito when coming in contact with it, they are dense and will fully cover an area, so no mosquitoes can escape the cloud of fog and also, because these particles are light, they stay in air for longer time than heavier particles, but at the same time are large enough to not get blown away with a slightest breeze.

For other type of insects and bugs different size particles are going to be effective. For larger insects such as flies and wasps you will want to use a fogger that can produce particles larger than 30 microns and for agricultural pests and bugs particles from 70 to 300 microns and larger are going to provide the best results of fogging.

Usage of mosquito fogger depends on the type of a fogger you have – thermal or cold.

Where to fog

Before using a mosquito fogger it is important to locate all areas around your backyard where mosquitoes reside and treat these areas directly to reduce a mosquito population in yard. You need to look for dark and humid places around your yard, preferably areas with standing water, where water has been present for couple of days. These areas include vegetation such as shrubbery, trees, tall grass, plants and other, different objects around the yard that can collect rain water such as old rubber tires, metal cans and barrels, and many other similar places. You can also look for larger places with standing water such as pools without chloride water, swamps, ponds and other areas. There are practically no limitations of areas where mosquitoes can reside and reproduce, until that spot is in a darker place and has got permanent source of standing water.

When you have located these areas around your yard, it is time to start taking action. Fill your mosquito fogger with appropriate insecticide and start fogging. Targeted fogging is going to be the most effective for reducing a mosquito population. Get rid of all areas with standing water by spilling out the water. If you cannot reach the area with standing water such as clogged rain gutters or cannot get rid of the water, you can fog these areas multiple times to get rid of mosquitoes in these places and also limit their population by destroying mosquito eggs from the water. When fogging shrubbery and plants make sure to fog under the leaves where it is darker in day and where mosquitoes like to hide from sun. Also fog around trees and try to fog tree tops that are covered with leaves, because mosquitoes use these hard to reach areas to hide during daytime. Also fog in longer grass and smaller bushes and look for other dark and humid places to fog around your house and yard where mosquitoes might be.

When is the best time to fog?

The best time to fog is when mosquito activity is the highest. Most mosquito species are active during evenings and early mornings and only some mosquito species are active during middle of day. Generally the best time to fog is in evenings around dusk because of the following reasons. First, the wind at this time, same as in early mornings, is very calm which makes perfect conditions for fogging and which also is one of the reasons why mosquitoes are active during this time of day. Also at evening hours the temperature outside has lowered and temperature closer to the ground is going to be higher than one in the air, so the fog is going to stay closer to the ground and reach larger count of insects for longer time. And third, most good insects and bugs such as butterflies and bees are active during day hours and activity ends before evenings, so fogging at this time won’t harm these good insects and bugs. When it’s not a good time to fog is during high wind conditions, because fog will immediately get blown away from the desired area in uncontrolled direction and can get in contact not only with harmless insects and bugs, but also other people, children and pets, or it can be redirected back to you. So choose only windless or low wind conditions for fogging.

Top fogger manufacturers

InsectCop TOP5 Best mosquito foggers for personal use

Burgess 1443	Fogmaster Jr 5330	Bonide 420 Fog-Rx	Tri Jet	Hudson 99598
Thermal propane fogger	ULV fogger	Thermal propane fogger	ULV fogger	ULV fogger