“You’ve seen the clip on fans, bug repellent bracelets, and candles,” Jennifer Lindgren reports for CBS Dallas/Fort Worth. “The latest in gadgets claiming to help fight off mosquitoes, are apps for the smart phone.”
“One app, called the Anti Mosquito – Sonic Repeller – Pico BrothersAnti Mosquito Sonic Repeller, emits a high frequency sound, which the makers claim mosquitoes will avoid. The description says by keeping the app close, mosquitos will stay away,” Lindgren reports. “The makers say it is not 100% effective, but will ease the pain of the biting pests.”
“At UNT’s Health Science Center in Fort Worth, Dr. Joon Lee handles mosquitos on a daily basis. The medical entomologist is one of the leading researchers of the insect in the country. The only product he’s found to be tried and true: DEET,” Lindgren reports. “‘Most of the other products are unregistered (with the EPA), which means they are posing minimal risk, but the effectiveness is unproven,’ Dr. Lee says. He cautions, it’s important to read the label on a DEET product. Dr. Lee finds, concentrations with 15-30% DEET can be safer on the skin than high concentrations. Some products on the market today contain near 100% DEET. ‘Personally I wouldn’t recommend applying a type of chemical with this high concentration on the face, and directly on the skin,’ said Dr. Lee.”
Lindgren reports, “When it comes to the smart phone app, Dr. Lee says he’s not sure how effective it would be on mosquitos. Dr. Lee says male mosquitos rely on antennae more than females. While the noise may keep the males away, Dr. Lee says it may not affect the female mosquitos the same way — and females are the bugs that bite.”
More info and video in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: So, in general, these sonic apps repel the non-biting mosquitos and don’t bother the biting ones. Good to know. Pass the DEET, please!
But, on second thought, this could seriously cramp the mosquitos’ style. What if somebody scheduled an anti-mosquito flash mob and a bunch people in one city or town all ran sonic repeller apps their iPhones to drive the male mosquitoes away? Or if they just set up some big speakers scattered throughout town to play the app’s high frequency sound? Hence, no mosquitos getting lucky tonight or for as long as the sound plays.
How long would the app have to play until that would significantly impact the mosquito population? According to Wikipedia, male mosquitos typically live for about a week and females for one to two weeks in nature. So, if the sonic repeller app played nonstop for a week… no more males in the area and no more viable eggs, either!
MDN getting downright creative 🙂
Agreed!
Except evolution is an adaptable system. You would end up driving away all of the “hearing” male mosquitoes, but the ones born “deaf” due to genetic defect would have a heyday with the girls. That would mean that the population would dip temporarily, but eventually would thrive with new “deaf” mosquitoes who would be resistant to the high frequency noise.
Only two things I have ever tried has worked: (“worked” as in helped repel the bastards)
Deep woods Off
Cigar smoke. 😉
Never heard of any sound based solution that wasn’t nothing more than BS.
Ps: the Avon skin so soft does work a little also.
I’ve bought some of those elephant repellent whistles. They work great!
I keep a braided string of garlic hanging in my kitchen. It’s been hanging for 17 years and so far I’ve never had a vampire in my home.
Quick tip: this works both ways!
Or do what i did. Move from a location where there are swarms of mosquitos (south Louisiana) to a hilltop in Indiana, where there are few mosquitos (unless near a lake). That worked!
Being a native Hoosier, you have to be talking about some relative comparison. I heRd two if talking last night about which one of them was going to get what parts of me.
In case it’s needed /s
“The medical entomologist is one of the leading researchers of the insect in the country…” yet he didn’t bother to actually test the hypothesis that the app or similar high pitched sound might work. He just stated his opinion without any scientific evidence or experimentation. Good to know we have the top mosquito scientist expert on the job.
Marc,
this leading mosquito researcher stated his opinion, which is based on his prior experience and knowledge about mosquitoes (which seems to be quite large). And his opinion was not “That will never work!”; he carefully said “I am not sure how effective it will be”, and then proceeded to explain exactly WHY he is not sure hoe effective the noise is.
In my life, I’ve seen many products that use various types of high-frequency noise in order to repel insects (mostly mosquitoes). These devices come and go, and there are even some people who genuinely believe they are effective (after all, MDN might be right; if they repel males, the females have less reason to be around us either).
I am not a mosquito expert, but even I know that the ONLY effective method to combat mosquitoes is mosquito oil (containing, yes, DEET), which blocks mosquito’s ability to smell humans (which is what triggers their biting instinct). The smell of DEET seems to also be chasing the females away, although jury is still out on that one.
Dang what’s happening, a headline with “repel” in it. What, no kill, no bloodbath, no thermonuclear, no shoot, no nail in the coffin.
No mention of good old Bacillus thurigiensis?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bacillus_thuringiensis_israelensis
It’s even got Israel in the name, come on you know how they like to fight.
Gee next thing you’ll know we’ll be reading life supportive headlines, “Mac Users Love” and “Macs save lives” and “Be at peace with a Mac.” Hey, that won’t be so bad. Bring it on.
Uh, it is an iOS app, not mac.
Fair enough CupertinoJoe, I was talking just about the headline though, not the app itself.
Mind you supersonic frequencies have been used to repel a variety of species other than mosquitoes.
Dragonflies are also good, unless you keep bees.
That makes sense, thanks for that. I love dragon flies, and bees.
MDN lol, wishful thinking. I’ve tried sprays, misters, repellant, candles, plants….none of them work as well as DEET unfortunately. I’ve even taken allergy shots for Mosquitos which helps some. Doesn’t prevent them from biting but does lessen your allergic response.
Samsung galaxys attract bluebottles.
The Fart app has proven to repel females. No bites since using the app.
Not sure how this is news – I had such an app several years ago.
“Had” is indeed the operative word. Didn’t do squat for me. Deleted the next day and never looked back.
What is the data regarding this situation?
– What audio frequency or frequencies is the app playing?
– Can the speaker on your iOS device actually play that frequency?
– What is the volume of audio required for a set radius?
– Can your iOS device play that volume?
– What experimental work has been done to prove audio sounds deter mosquitoes?
I think I’ll stick to using my Ghost Meter app, which is probably just as effective.
The app plays a loop of Assmung ads. It repels all living things.
Is it IOS application or mac application?
Funny how the most effective chemical wasn’t mentioned; DDT
100% effective and completely safe.