Biogents Mosquito Blog

We will be present at the 6th Annual meeting of the Pan African Mosquito Control Association (PAMCA). It takes place at the Hilton Hotel in Yaoundé, Cameroon from September 23 to 25, 2019.

It’s summer and there is one thing that people all over the world love to do - BBQs. No matter if they are young or old, everyone looks forward to the evening barbecue buffet. For me, this is also a very special time of the year. When the days are long and you like to sit with friends and family in your backyards and enjoy the last rays of sunshine in the evening, I can enjoy splendid blood meal hunting sessions – your blood is just delicious!

Hi folks

Smart Traps: An Introduction

Nowadays, the word “smart” before any product is no longer foreign terminology. There are smart phones, smart watches, smart TVs, smart homes, smart cities – just about anything you can think of can be “smart”, but what exactly are smart traps? A rough definition could be a trap containing some sort of electronic device with magical software that collects and evaluates data and then transfers this data to a place where it can be easily accessed with another “smart” device, but don’t quote us on that. The first smart traps to be commercialized were most likely in the rodent control field with smart rat traps currently being a hot product in the pest control industry. Smart insect traps have also been popping up over the last several years, especially in the agriculture industry, but smart mosquito traps are something new.

After a tiring five-hour flight from Bavaria, I found myself in the duty-free area of a Swedish airport. My ex-wife always wanted to go to Sweden with me on vacation, but somehow, I always managed to persuade her to go somewhere south as a holiday destination. Unfortunately, it is more difficult to persuade my company to send me south rather than north, and as the objective of the business trip was team building, I agreed to go. At least I was spared of carrying along four suitcases, a bunch of toys, and cuddly blankets for kids, and I was able to walk my carry-on trolley pass the long line of the luggage drop-off.

The CDC recommends using Biogents' BG-Sentinel trap as a surveillance tool in the fight against tiger mosquitoes which transmit dengue, chikungunya, and zika. According to the CDC, the BG-Sentinel is one of the most commonly used mosquito traps to collect adult tiger mosquitoes (Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus).

The Parasitec Exhibition 2019 takes place in Budapest from May 9 - 10, 2019.

Moorefield, WV, April 17, 2019 - Asian tiger mosquitoes (Aedes albopictus) continue to expand their range in the United States and are problematic not only because of their aggressive day-biting behavior, but also as potential vectors of diseases like dengue, Zika and chikungunya. Homeowners often try to protect themselves from the bloodthirsty flying tigers with UV light traps, but the results leave much to be desired. Scientists recently showed how the number of tiger mosquitoes you collect can be greatly increased by adding an artificial human skin scent that is irresistible to the annoying little insects: the BG-Sweetscent. It was developed by Biogents, a German company recognized world-wide by mosquito specialists for their efficient mosquito traps. A team of scientists from Florida, Louisiana, and Germany tested the BG-Sweetscent with six different commercially available mosquito UV light traps. The study was published in the March issue of the Journal of the American Mosquito Control Association, one of the most important scientific journals for mosquito specialists. The result? BG-Sweetscent increases tiger mosquito catch rates in light traps up to 4.2-fold!

Is Mosquito Control a Governmental or Public Responsibility?

Neighbors helping neighbors control public mosquito problems? Isn’t that the responsibility of governmental and public health authorities? Isn’t that a part of what we are paying them for? Well, if you ask any public health authority, they will most likely tell you that the ultimate responsibility of urban mosquito control lies with the private individual themselves or the property owner in eliminating and preventing mosquito breeding in the first place. On the other hand, eliminating breeding sites on properties alone is not going to solve any public mosquito problem. While the US has developed one of the most comprehensive and effective mosquito control industries in the world, National Geographic has described it as, “… [being] conducted by a crazy quilt of local districts that are dependent on cities and counties for funding and personnel” and “… [an] unorganized patchwork that could leave the United States vulnerable to rapidly expanding epidemics.”

Regensburg, Germany, April 3, 2019 - Scientists were thrilled when Biogents’ BG-Sentinel came out more than 10 years ago: finally, a mosquito trap that really catches yellow fever and tiger mosquitoes! It took not long, and the trap was the gold standard for mosquito pros in governmental organizations, the military, science, and mosquito control organizations worldwide. The unique design combines optical and physical cues with an artificial skin scent (BG-Sweetscent) to attract mosquitoes. And the trap now has a brother that is also available for home owners in the US: the BG-Mosquitaire is a rugged and good-looking version, designed for the continuous use in the garden and backyard. But do the two traps perform equally? A scientific study, just published in the open access Journal of the American Mosquito Control Association, compared the two trap types in California and Louisiana. The result: both traps are equally efficient.