These Pest Control Plugins Really Work
Every season brings its hordes of pests. I’ve been plagued by sugar ants all spring. At some point every summer, house flies buzz in my rooms. In especially severe winters, pantry moth tends to multiply. And mosquitoes prey on me like it’s open season.
There are all sorts of anecdotal methods of getting rid of these pests—hang a padlocked bag filled with water on the door to keep the flies away, draw a line on the floor and the ants won’t cross it—but eventually the pests come back. So you need a solution that works.
I once thought it was a sign of maturity to visit a pest control specialist regularly, but after a few years of using Terminix, I decided that I needed to solve problems myself, and that’s when I discovered that commercially available trap plugins really work. .
Trap plugins can protect your home from all flying pests
There is a secret ingredient to pest control: pheromones. A small amount of pheromones placed in the right type of trap can attract and keep anything you deal with (they make special traps for all types of pests ). Flying beetle trap plugins constantly release these pheromones while providing a sticky pad or container to capture the beetles. You just need to change the gasket or container from time to time when it fills up (completely). What’s more, the new trap plugins don’t focus on just one type of pest, but on all flying pests, including pantry moths, houseflies, midges, and fruit flies. And they really work – you will see the evidence right on the sticky backing.
I’ve tried hook plugins from several vendors and found Zevo to be the most effective, but that doesn’t mean it’s the only one that works.
Also keep away from flying street pests
It hurts me when bugs invade my space. Outside, however, I’m an intruder, and so I’ve never dabbled in knick-knacks lest pests bother me in the yard. Zappers seem silly and overly intrusive, and those mosquito repellents you attach to your thigh don’t work .
But if you want a quieter outdoor spot, effective pheromone traps can also control pests outside. Where I live it’s been a bad year for yellow vests and flies are always a nuisance, but I’ve never considered using traps for them as they tend to be bulky and obvious.
Enter the Dynatrap , a small device that catches wasps, flies, mosquitoes, yellow vests, but, oddly enough, no bees. (Bees have been a big problem since I spend so much time luring them into my garden; obviously it has something to do with the CO2 and the fact that they are pollinators.) These outdoor units are more expensive and I can’t swear one unit covers an acre as promised, but my back yard has cleared up a lot of pests,
Keep pests at bay with these pheromone-based traps:
- ZEVO Internal flying insect trap for fruit flies, mosquitoes and house flies $33
- Loraffe Ultrasonic Rodent Repeller $27
- DynaTrap Large Mosquito & Flying Trap $136
Repellent plugins can help with cockroaches, mice and ants
Separately, there is a class of plugin pest control tools that work to repel bugs rather than catch them. They tend to use sound waves or noise to repel pests. Two especially worked for me.
These ultrasonic pest repellers have legitimately helped clear my house of ants and, unlike Terro baits, which are also very effective, I don’t have to repeat the treatment over and over again. (I haven’t had a problem with cockroaches, but reviews seem to confirm they work for those critters too.)
I also needed protection from rodents, who tend to enjoy my outdoor tool shop. For this, I rely on Loraffe repellents , which emit light and noise when motion is detected, and it’s been a quiet six months without rodents. I love that you can install them in your car as well, as squirrels love to hide there when I park on the street.
While all of these solutions are more expensive than, say, adding apple cider vinegar to a cup to attract fruit flies or adding cedar wood to repel mice, they actually work consistently and seem to be able to kill unwanted pests. while not harming those you like (hello, bees!).