I have a few friends who swear by Dyna-Trap. They come in different sizes depending on the area you want to cover.

I protect myself with light clothing and use a deet based spray on other exposed areas (neck and ankles are big ones for me) and the stuff made for faces on my face. I only go out in the dry cooler mornings. They sense your presence by the CO2 you give off. If you're working and moving around, pretty difficult to mask the CO2. Citronella torches might work for sitting out in the evenings. But when it's really bad, all bets are off. I hate to fog because it kills off the beneficial insects too. But most of the fogging chemicals don't persist, so if you hit the area just when the mosquitoes are at their peak, it hopefully gives other insects a chance to bounce back. Not the ones you killed, just new ones that could move in.

Bats are great for control but their populations are being decimated by white nose fungus. Mom nature protects us but only if we return the favor . . .

Edited to add that like 2Katz, I have great beneficial insect and butterfly habitat so I don't spray. All my neighbors do though . . .

No home remedies - I just use a commercial spray on myself if I’m out with the mosquitoes. I use the same if I’m doing something woodsy and at risk of ticks. I won’t spray anything on the property because of my concern for the bees. We have good bee habitat and lots of bees.

arcy_gw what tubes are you referring to?

I've checked for standing water. Can't find any, unless it's in the gutters, and I'm not climbing up there to look.

I hate to do a "mass" spraying -- I know it works, but I don't want to kill the fireflies (and bees) we have. The grandkids love to watch the "light-bugs." On the other hand, they can't enjoy them if they can't go outside.

I'm off to check into the Dyna-traps.

Thank you all!

We use a commercial company that sprays every three weeks and have for about 7 years now and no mosquitoes No way could we sit outside and enjoy ourselves during our long humid summers. We entertain quite a bit outside-so a must-have.

We also have the yard sprayed with supposedly the "organic" mixture every 3 weeks. Like olliesmom said, we could not enjoy the yard or work in the garden without it. We do not seem to have any shortage of bees and butterflies that visit our plants. I have a local professional colleague who got West Nile a couple of years ago and was hospitalized from it, so I do not care what others think about spraying. Mosquitos can also transmit heartworm to pets. Ours are indoor but they get Revolution because they can get inside the house from doors opening. It's a huge topic on our Nextdoor app and some person feels her bees were killed, but it also is possible someone vandalized them.

P.S. The fogger I use also repels them for hours. I don't spray everywhere - just where the mosquitoes hang out. I haven't noticed any reduction in bees and butterflies, etc. - and we get a lot. You can spray when the beneficial insects are not active, usually dusk.

Even though we are in the south, we don't have a huge problem with mosquitos. We use the citronella candles and torches when entertaining or if we need to when we are out (in the evenings). I do not want to spray chemicals on myself and we were told spraying the yards/trees/etc. is detrimental to the wildlife, which we have alot of (it's not just bees, etc. it's birds, rabbits, etc.). Thankfully we don't have the problem some here have. When we had our little dog she was always on heartworm protection.

@Vadap ... what's your deal? Why do you keep parroting posts by others? And you're a Houzz "pro"??? So freakin weird.

For regular use, I use a natural repellant that contains lemon eucalyptus. Like this one. Deet scares me, but I'll use it in heavily wooded areas.

I agree with Arkansas girl--if you use citronella, light ahead of time so the smell is good and imbedded around the area.

Breathing in citronella fumes/smoke seems harmful to me. Plus, the smell. It always seems to go straight towards me LOL

Several of my neighbors use the commercial mosquito spray company. My neighborhood smells like garlic for days. The spray bothers me a lot but on the other hand it drifts into my yard and controls the mosquitoes at no cost or guilt to me. I do see bees around.

I have my house surrounded by lavender borders. It is supposed to help keep mosquitoes at bay. Plus I love that the lavender attracts bees.

From the YesPest website:

Known for its soothing and relaxing properties, lavender’s fragrance is what keeps mosquitoes away. Some even argue that the sweet-smelling oil found on the leaves of the plant even hinders a mosquito’s ability to smell! Not only does lavender keep mosquitoes away, but dried lavender is often used in sachets to repel moths and other pests from closets and wardrobes. Lavender does best with full sun and good drainage. While it does well in many climates, it thrives in warmer areas.

https://yespest.com/2017/05/12/mosquito-repellent-plants/

@zalco, i just started growing lavender this year, so that is good to know. We do not use the torches right up near us and of course not near food. We also invested in a fan which keeps fumes, grill smoke, even bugs away from our seating area.

I have tried to grow lavender, with out much luck. May have to give it another try.

I've ordered the repel w/lemon and eucalyptus. I'll use that on the grands!!!

Someone nearby in the 'hood had a fire going. Smelled like they were burning wet leaves. I'm pretty sure they were smoking their yard to get rid of the mosquitoes. Didn't seem to keep them away from our yard though.

We haven't had much issue with mosquitoes...but then again, we have a barn full of bats...

Dedtired, garlic? Wonder why? I don't smell anything after they spray. I have several friends who spray and have never smelled anything. I guess there are different brands of sprays, glad I don't use that one.

I too have lavender, but I'm not sure about it affecting mosquitoes smelling ability. I always thought it was their infrared vision that saw your body heat and warm CO2 expulsions that attracted them most.

@Annie Deighnaugh I decided to look up the lavender/mosquito theory since I have heard of other plants that might repel mosquitoes. Here's what I found:

Have you ever noticed that insects or even rabbits and other animals have never decimated your lavender plant? It is because of their lovely fragrance, which comes from its essential oils that are found on the leaves of the plant. It is even argued that lavender oil hinders a mosquito’s ability to smell! This plant is very tough and drought-resistant once established, and only needs full sun and good drainage. And while it can endure many climates, it thrives in warmer areas.

Plus some other plants that supposedly repel mosquitoes. I'll see how my lavender does this year and then may consider planting some (or maybe other plants) near our patio area.

I think the reason mosquitoes have become less of a problem here is our drier summers (many years we are in a rain deficit). OTOH, I can remember years past with wetter summers and more mosquitoes

Now I'm off to water before our 90 degree afternoon!

plants that repel mosquitoes

Tina marie: "It is even argued that..." is not what I'd consider proof. IAC, what I'm saying is that mosquitoes don't rely primarily on smell to find their host, so interfering with that -- if that's what lavender does -- would not necessarily help.

I said nothing about proof - I just find the thought very interesting and maybe worth trying for those who have problems with mosquitos. I have heard using peppermint oil is a good repellent for bugs, but have no experience. I'm all for using natural products if they help/work.

I belong to an online gardening group, so I'm going to check there and see if any have tried plants for mosquito control.

how mosquitoes detect people this makes sense if Skin So Soft works because that stuff stinks!!

I use this, it works and I have been through many bottles over the last couple years. I cannot be outside without it on. It doesn't last long but it does work and has NO odor. Deet products last longer but smell. Skin So Soft does nothing for me.

And I want to find out how to get more dragonflies in my yard!

Mosquitoes hone in on you by sensing the CO2 you give off, although I think some people have other odors that may attract them, I seem to be a mosquito magnet and so was my Mom. We used to say, "Sweet blood, that's the problem . . . " But anyway, a whole lot of herbal concoctions with strong smells that will at least somewhat confuse mosquitoes, but not a perfect system. Some of them are toxic if ingested and also some could cause skin irritation if used in too strong of a solution or you are allergic. But the strong solutions are what repel, so whatcha gonna do. Garlic would work, but you may not want to smell like pizza all the time . . . as far as plants just working by planting them, that's debatable. Depends on how strong of an odor they emit at the time the mosquitoes are about. Seems to me the effect might be marginal. Plants that thrive in drier conditions are also going to grow well where there are less mosquitoes, so association does not prove causation.

As for the "organic" sprays, I'm skeptical. I think they are pyrethrin based. Pyrethrin comes from plants in the chrysanthemum family, so maybe by that standard it is "organic" but it is highly toxic to insects. The positive about it is it breaks down quickly so will not linger around and kill insects for long periods of time. So they try and time spraying the mosquitoes for time they are out but not other insects, in the early evening when bees and butterflies are hunkered down for the nigh. That's IF, (and it's a HUGE IF) the sprays are applied correctly. Doesn't happen too often from what I've seen. Also, the idea that because its labeled "organic" it is harmless, is also false. It's also highly irritating to my eyes and sinuses. But when you have huge mosquito outbreaks, it's one tool in the toolbox.

Here's some lowdown on the various chemical and other control measures.

https://www.pesticideresearch.com/site/pri-resource-centers/pest-mgmt/pest-mgmt-bulletins/mosquito-control/

I live in a damp wooded area so I expect there to be mosquito outbreaks from time to time. I manage it by controlling dampness around the house and not going out during peak mosquito times. And when I do, I cover up with light clothing and use repellent on key exposed areas. Works well for me, I work in mosquito infested areas year in and year out and have had minimal bites. But I always carry a small vial of repellent with me where ever I go.

My daughter is a mosquito magnet. When she was young and when she was bitten, the spots would swell up 2xs the size. Avon used to have a cream version of Skin so soft and I'd lather her in it. When she started going off to summer camps, we put her on a regimen of Vit. B (maybe D) and Brewer's Yeast 2 weeks before she left. She continued that all summer long. That seemed to deter them.

I'd forgotten all about that until now.

We used to have scads of dragonflies! Wish they'd come back.

Living in Texas where the mosquitos are the size of 1970s Cadillac sedans, I don't believe there's anything that will effectively discourage mosquitos from attacking except the chemical repellants. When we were preparing to spend time in the Panamanian rainforest, we were instructed to spray all of our clothing, backpacks, etc. with permethrin. That was a bit of a chore - had to be done outdoors and it made me nervous trying not to breathe the stuff in - but it definitely worked to keep the biting bugs at bay.

We have a number of plants in our small garden, including Vitex/Chaste trees and Lemon Balm, said to help ward off mosquitos. Well, they don't. And I certainly don't put any faith in something like Skin So Soft. I dislike spraying myself with the chemical stuff, but it's the only thing that works around these parts.

We have used the Thermacell lanterns with great success. We had to spend half a day at an outdoor swim meet that is in a shaded park like area with billions of mosquitos and my husband hung them on some poles next to us and I didn't even get one bite. I did kill two mosquitos on the way there from the car and had those bites and that was after spraying myself with DEET, but once in our area no more bites. They do have a time limit so need to change them out after 4 hrs and only works if you're staying in a certain area. We hung them up for my daughters end of school year party next to the pool and none of the kids got bitten either even though all you had to do at that time was walk outside to get 10 bites.

FWIW, that fogger I shared is a surfactant & mint oil based insecticide that kills on contact - no pyrethrins.

Also scouting your area for standing water and eliminating or treating it can be very helpful, but not 100%. Some mosquitoes can breed in a very small amount of water - like a spoonful.

So I went looking. I was curious as the article cited by Tina Marie said shutting down the CO2 receptors also seemed to cut down on their sense of smell, so I didn't see that as determinative.

Then I came across this: https://www.caltech.edu/about/news/mosquitoes-use-smell-see-their-hosts-47338 which describes how mosquitoes find their hosts:

Information gathered from all of these experiments enabled the researchers to create a model of how the mosquito finds its host over different distances. They hypothesize that from 10 to 50 meters away, a mosquito smells a host's CO2 plume. As it flies closer—to within 5 to 15 meters—it begins to see the host. Then, guided by visual cues that draw it even closer, the mosquito can sense the host's body heat. This occurs at a distance of less than a meter.

So I went looking further and found this: https://academic.oup.com/jme/article/57/2/477/5580737

We found that cinnamon oil, peppermint oil, spearmint oil, lemongrass oil, and garlic oil reduced mosquito attraction to human odor. Of the five commercial repellent sprays, only one reduced mosquito attraction for up to 30 min in our assay.

The one commercial spray that had an effect was Cutters Lemon Eucalyptus Insect Repellant. And of course DEET is effective.

Skin So Soft contains citronella which is why it has some bug repellant capabilities.

Deet stops them from being able to land on you and start drilling. The oils of Skin So Soft work in the same way. Seems like the problem with the scented oils is if there are enough mosquitoes around though, sooner or later they will spot you, lol!

If you are going to fog with insecticide, you want a contact poison that will kill them right away when it lands on them, and not hang around to kill other beneficial or benign insects. You want to do it at peak mosquito time, which we call "M Hour" at our house, usually around 8 PM. And you need to stay out of the area after fogging. I think they usually recommend 24 hours, which if you do it at 8 PM isn't too difficult. Keep the stuff away from water, it's highly toxic to fish and doesn't break down in water like it does in the soil. Also keep it away from pets.

If you are going with smoke or citronella type stuff so they can't "smell" you, you can set up a perimeter around the area you are using so the smoke isn't wafting right into your lungs.

It is tough with kids playing outside, because they are sweet and tender and giving off a lot of CO2. When working outside with kids, I ask the parents to send approved insect repellent with the kids and we douse them with it before going into mosquito territory. There are special repellents made for kids, less concentrated toxins . . . YMMV as to what you consider an acceptable risk which is why I ask the parents to supply what they approve of. You can also douse a bandana with a strong scented oil and then wrap it around a hat so it doesn't directly contact the skin but still masks your CO2 scent.

I can’t say it was fool proof for everyone but eating fresh garlic has helped me in the past. I like make fresh garlic bread with it diced up on it. It’s so good it’s addicting but sooo sooo bad.

Edit to add: we have a bat box on the side of our house and lots of dragon flies too…not sure how bad the pests would be without them, but I do think they help.

LI maybe that's my husband's secret. He loves garlic, puts it on and extra for many, many foods. Mosquitoes never seem to bother him . . . or people . . . (kidding, sort of!)

We tried everything at our old house, up to and including elsborate misting systems and co2 emitter / bug zappers from Frontgate and Hammacher Schlemmer. The only thing that really worked was this:

You can buy them on Amazon. The egg is a diffuser; you pour 25 ml of the oil in it and it works for about a week before you have to replenish it. Each egg protects about 100 sq ft. They absolutely work.

Interestingly, just saw this and thought of this thread - mosquito traps:

https://www.dynatrap.com/store/dynatrap-traps?wcs_by_insect=413

I just checked and the Patio Egg uses lemongrass oil.

Thanks for weighing in @l pinkmountain! We are lucky to have an expert here. @User I think I recall seeing the eggs in the past. It's good to know what has worked for people here in our group. Someone mentioned the thermacell lanters and it reminded me that we have a couple of those in our deck box. We put them out for times we were entertaining outside and then of course came the pandemic and I had forgotten about them.

The other problem with the scented oils is, they may repel mosquitoes, but do the floral fragrances attract other pests? One time I made the mistake of using an orange blossom cream rinse in my hair before I went hiking. No one else was bothered, but I was so swarmed by gnats that I looked like Pig Pen!

The patio egg repels all flying insects—- by secondary intention if not by design. At least it does where we live in Georgia now, and when we lived on heavily wooded land with multiple small bodies of water surrounding our house.

kswl—-could you set a patio egg on a picnic table or would the odor be overpowering while eating?

You can definitely set it on a table or nearby. the smell is not nearly as strong as its effectiveness would suggest.

Patio egg didn’t help me here in central Florida, where we grow our skeeters HUGE, bold and mean.

We have fans on our decks to blow the suckers away. And stuff with Deet. Lots of Deet.

I am a mosquito magnet! I used to use DEET, but stopped due to safety concerns plus it removes nail polish. I use the Repel lemon eucalyptus spray now (hold your breath when spraying because it is strong). We have one Biogents machine which works well, but we have a big yard and need another one. We also use the small Thermocell units on the deck. One of our neighbors uses the Spartan sticks, and she says they work.

Our HOA asked people not to use the services that spray the garlic and other sprays due to so many homeowner complaints and the harm to beneficial insects.

Thanks kswl. My son is having an outdoor party next week for 25 and I’m deciding between the Patio Egg (currently on sale at BBB) and Thermacell.

Garlic oil spray does not harm other insects and the odor to humans is relatively short lived. Other sprays might. We have used garlic oil for years and noticed last year that a neighbor has started using it too. It really does help and it doesn't kill anything. I've read the garlic is offensive to mosquitoes, but it may be similar to lavender or certain other plants -- they just smell enough to make it harder for the mosquitoes to find you. Either way, it works and it doesn't kill the beneficial insects or birds. We garden for birds, butterflies and bees and I have raised well over 1000 monarch and other butterflies and we host several different species of birds on our lot. We also garden for ourselves with vegetables, fruit and herbs, so it is important to me not to poison my plants or the insects the birds and other wildlife may consume. When you kill undesired insects, you often harm the insects or animals that help control those populations as well -- and the pollinators we rely on for food crops. We try to reserve pesticides for fire ants because nothing else keeps them at bay.

In addition to the garlic spray, we have 2 Dynatraps and if working out in the yard, berry picking or the like, we use the lemon and eucalyptus spray. DEET used for camping and backpacking and then sprayed only on clothing, shoes, etc., not on skin. We used to have bats in the area -- I have considered putting up a bat house to try to attract them. Our dragonfly numbers are way down this year -- guessing they were impacted by the freeze. I wish the mosquitoes had been.

ETA: Will look into the patio egg. We have used a lemon eucalyptus incense. Fans also help -- mosquitoes are not strong fliers.

This is a very curios, humorous read at times. Bottom line some of the posters have NO CLUE what it is to live in a mosquito INFESTED area. The foggers--yes very dangerous. One does not walk through the fog or in the area while you can SEE the fog. 24 hours out is RIDICULOUS. The mosquitoes have returned hours ago!! It only kills what the fog gets to! It does not stay in the air or on plants. DH once fogged every half hour while a troop of boy scouts attempted to turn our pontoon into a pirate ship for a flotilla. In and out these 10 boys went while he fogged. Yes mosquitoes are attracted by CO2. Which is why when you are working up a sweat they find you furiously. Those machines The Mosquito Magnet function by putting off CO2. We CLOGGED two of them one summer-regularly. My son was doing a Science project COUNTED dead mosquitos the machines caught. We still could not sit outside not covered in DEET. Here is a photo of what DH hung this year as added support to our whole neighborhood spraying. No not garlic maby pamby they spray noxious poisonous gas that does the job well enough you can be outside-in day light. Yes dusk is the time to spray/fog catch them as they are returning from points on high I guess. This year we have had so little rain I cant say these are "working' as we just do not have mosquitos yet. The hope was to be out around a recreational fire--allowed in my world. I suspect it works much like this egg posters mentioned but I don't know that. It's made for lake property. Hang 6ft in trees on the four corners of the property line, the directions say. Personal testimony from co-workers helped us decide to give it a try.

I did some research on the Spartan product after my hairdresser raved about it. There are two products -the Eradicator and the ProTech. My research indicated that the ProTech was the better product, but I'm not an expert.

One thing I liked is that unlike other products, Spartan does not work by putting poison in the air. Instead, it serves as a bait for mosquitoes, and after they imbibe, they explode from CO2 buildup. That appealed to me because we try to avoid toxicity when/where we can.

We've had it up about a week and a half. My unscientific finding is that it's reduced our mosquito load by about 75%. Not perfect but it makes my patio usuable. I get bit more walking around the neighborhood than I do in my yard now -which wasn't the case before we set these up.

Ya know, nothing is a substitute for reading the toxicity warnings on any pesticide product, whether it's "natural" or whatever. How long you stay out of a "fogged" area depends on what the area is "fogged" with. "Fogging" just refers to the method of application.

Pyrethrin sprays 2-4 hrs. some others as little as 30 min. In mosquito infested areas, new mosquitoes will quickly repopulate. Sprays only effective in very short term and not much use if not part of an overall mosquito control program. But if you live in an area like I do, where the mosquito is the secondary state bird, you have to adapt. Total control is a pipe dream, move to a less infested part of the country. I lived in PA for half my life, was rarely bothered, particularly in urban areas. Here, hordes, can barely make it from car to front door during hatch outs. It comes in waves. We don't expect to entertain after M hour during M times outdoors. We have a screened in porch for that. We've lived in an infested area for decades and rarely get bit. We work around them.

When I backpack into the worst areas, I use DEET for exposed areas. It's toxic but if you're not slathering it on all over your body daily for you entire life, your risk is much less.

As for the dragonfly shortage, I dunno but these insect sprays, if applied improperly so they get into the water, are very toxic to water life, and the stuff doesn't break down in water like it does on land. Dragonflies not the most sensitive creatures to water quality, but not the least either. About midway. Even they have a point of no return. Like I said before, Mom nature can help you but only if you respect her, otherwise you're in for a heck of a battle.

I mentioned dragonflies to DH and he said he's seen them. I saw some yesterday, so they are back -- perhaps just slower and the numbers are not up after the deep freeze. But they are feasting and the mosquitoes has good dry baking for a while with no rain. But we got a heavy rain night before last -- they will be back. Hope the dragonflies, bats and birds continue to feast.

Arcy, I live near the Gulf Coast and have most of my life -- through tropical storms hurricanes and other floods. I know mosquitoes -- and I know that most of the time you can keep them at bay without killing the beneficials. I researched the yeast based things like you showed. One claims they explode, but none of them tell you much about what they are. I suspect that is because they are based on yeast and folks could DIY for a lot less, but the article I read seemed to think none of them really worked. If you think it does, let us know.

Pink, I grew up thinking the Gulf Coast was home of all the mosquitoes, especially in wet summers. I was surprised when my oldest went on a canoeing and backpacking trip to Boundary Waters and they were claiming mosquitoes as the unofficial state bird that far north. I wonder if any place short of desert or maybe mountains is without them. Actually -- my dad had an 8th floor apartment his last couple of years. You could be on the balcony or leave the door open in nice weather because the bugs didn't fly up that high. Maybe I need a taller house. LOL

MI and all other north country areas are just loaded with wetlands/mosquito habitat. Black flies too, they breed in clean, clear water. In MI, you are never more than 1 mile from water, including gads of mosquito habitat. PA on the other hand, the other state I've lived in, is blessed with rivers, some wetlands and ephemeral ponds, but few natural lakes and large ponds. Some, but no where near the frequency of MI. So the population in the places I lived in PA was less. Does not mean there were no mosquitoes and there are also seasonal hatch outs that are problems almost everywhere. On the flip side, we don't yet have as many ticks in MI as they do in PA, so not as much lyme disease. Some, but not as much. On the flip side again, we have zika virus, which is mosquito vectored.