Where to Place a Mosquito Trap – What Really Matters

Mosquitoes can spoil your time in the garden surprisingly quickly – even when you already have a mosquito trap running. One decisive factor often gets overlooked: where to best place your mosquito trap.
Even the most efficient mosquito trap can only reach its full potential if it is placed where mosquitoes actually spend their time. So here we explain what matters when positioning your trap, and which mistakes to avoid.
The key points at a glance:
• Mosquito traps work best in shady, wind-protected locations close to vegetation or other places where mosquitoes rest.
• The trap should not stand right next to your seating area. Keep it at least 5 metres away from the patio or from areas you use frequently, so that mosquitoes are intercepted before they reach you.
• Basic mosquito traps are suitable for areas of up to roughly 300 m², while high-performance CO2 traps – depending on the surroundings and the level of mosquito pressure – can also cover larger areas of up to around 700 m².
• CO2 mosquito traps often attract additional mosquito species and achieve higher catch rates.
• Mosquito traps are most effective as part of an all-round approach to mosquito control – combined, for example, with removing breeding sites such as standing water.

There is good reason why traps such as the AERO TRAP PLUS are run outdoors: during the day, mosquitoes retreat to resting areas before setting off in search of a new host. Those areas are exactly where a trap belongs:

Mosquitoes love damp, shady conditions, so you should never place your mosquito traps in direct sunlight – they will not attract anything there. Beyond that, you should also avoid the following mistakes:

• do not place mosquito traps on the patio itself or under the garden table
• do not place mosquito traps right next to pet runs, hutches or kennels
• do not place mosquito traps in spots that are too windy

Our mosquito traps imitate a human being very effectively, but they will never be more attractive to a mosquito than a real person. You therefore have to catch the mosquitoes before they reach people, which is why keeping a distance from humans and animals is essential. You can also watch this video if you would like more information on the best location for your mosquito traps.

Both the AERO TRAP and its predecessor, the BG-Mosquitaire, are suitable for all green outdoor areas where mosquitoes may occur. These include, for example:

• gardens
• leisure facilities
• sports grounds
• outdoor dining and hospitality areas
• campsites
• hotels
For large properties, Biogents also offers fully managed service solutions. A professionally installed network of traps, combined with monthly maintenance visits, can keep catch rates consistently high. That way, even large outdoor areas can be protected reliably and without insecticides.
Even so, exactly how many mosquito traps you need comes down to the size of your property and its surroundings. Investing in more than one trap is worthwhile if you…
• want to clear a larger site.
• are dealing with very damp conditions.
• have breeding water and plenty of shrubbery nearby.
• notice that a neighbouring property is badly affected.
In these cases, you and, where relevant, your neighbours should first make sure that you are not breeding the mosquitoes yourselves in full water butts or open containers. Empty all containers regularly. For some mosquito species, even a small amount of standing water is enough to lay eggs in. For water that cannot be removed or emptied regularly, our Biogents HYDRO FILM can be a sensible addition.

A good mosquito trap in the best location will reduce the mosquito population around you over the long term, because it uses proven capture methods. The BG-Mosquitaire and its further development, the AERO TRAP, follow scientifically proven approaches to specifically attract different mosquito species. The main differences are as follows:

You can usually start working out the best locations for your mosquito traps from April onwards, or once outdoor temperatures reach 15 °C for several days in a row. One thing is certain: the earlier you start catching, the more efficiently the traps work. On top of that, the trap:
• runs ideally from spring through to mid-autumn, with very low power consumption of just 5 watts
• runs continuously, 24/7, throughout the mosquito season to bring about a long-term reduction
• lets you control CO2 release times precisely via the MyBiogents app, matched to local mosquito activity, so that CO2 consumption goes down
• works with the CO2 Boost Set, which is conveniently controlled from the MyBiogents app
The app lets you match CO₂ output precisely to the hours when mosquitoes are most active. That makes the gas cylinder last longer and saves you money in the long run.

These five steps will help you find the ideal location for our products in your outdoor space – quickly and systematically.

1. Start positioning early: You can begin looking for the best location for your mosquito trap as soon as temperatures stay consistently above 15 °C. That way it is already working before the first mosquitoes reproduce.
2. Track down the resting areas: Spend some time in the shady, damp corners of your garden at dusk, when most of our native mosquito species go looking for a blood meal. If you are bitten quickly there, that is a reliable sign – the trap belongs exactly where the mosquitoes are resting. The Asian tiger mosquito is the exception, as it is the one species active by day: where it occurs, carry out the same check in the midday heat.
3. Choose a sheltered spot: It should be shady, out of the wind and at ground level, and as close as possible to standing water or damp corners.
4. Position the trap away from where you sit: Make sure the trap keeps a distance of at least five metres from your patio, to prevent mosquitoes being drawn in your direction.
5. Let the trap run continuously: After a trial period, you can try moving the location by a few metres if there are still no catches after more than a week.

Once you have found where to best place your mosquito trap, it works away permanently and with minimal effort. Week by week, the population is noticeably reduced by the mosquito trap in your garden.