What is a mosquito magnet?

A Mosquito Magnet is a commercially available brand of mosquito trap which uses a combination of carbon dioxide, warm moisture and a plant-chemical simulator to attract mosquitoes. When the mosquitoes approach the Mosquito Magnet, they are vacuumed into the device and trapped.

Mosquito Magnet machines can be very effective at removing mosquito populations from an area; the Mosquito Magnet cites an instance in which 1.5 million mosquitoes were trapped in six days at a Coast Guard station in the Bahamas. To work correctly, a Mosquito Magnet must be placed upwind of the mosquitoes so that the mosquitoes smell the chemicals, and the chemicals must attract the specific species of mosquito in the area.