Thingiverse Features a 3D Printed Bottle Trap for Flying Pests — Including Mosquitoes

Don’t get me started when it comes to mosquitoes. I live in the Florida panhandle surrounded by water, and there are mostly benefits to this natural lifestyle filled with beautiful beaches, smaller lakes and ponds, and roadside swamp-like spots that emulate a rain forest-like atmosphere. As autumn is now firmly locked in, and the cloying summer humidity has lifted, I find myself clamoring to spend every waking hour outdoors. (In fact, I plan to go swimming in our bay once I am done with this article.)

But I have to say, one serious negative here as the weather cools off can be bugs. Mosquitoes, a smaller insect that we call “No-See-Ums,” flies… you name it.  Last night I got my first official mosquito bite of the season, in fact. Appropriately, today, I am covering something I can sure use on my own patio area: a Soda Pop Bottle Mosquito and Fly Trap. 122 people who have already downloaded the design seem to agree with me.

This trap design, by Chicago-based maker Jim AKA “jimustanguitar,” is one reason I absolutely love maker culture: this is a highly practical contraption that can quickly and significantly improve the quality of your life if you and your loved ones want to spend time outside undeterred by pests. jimustanguitar made this design to screw onto 16 and 20 oz. soda bottle tops, and there are two pieces.

He explains:

“It’s got a recessed, narrowing opening just like most other bug traps, and there’s a keyhole for hanging it on a drywall screw. The threads are ‘PCO-1881’ and should fit many other containers.”

There is also a funnel to print. You use this to fill the bottle with liquids intended to attract pests, and some people have suggested that the funnel when left on also works to attract pests to the bottle trap. jimustanguitar also states that a sock covering the bottle darkens it and this too can help attract bugs.

The bottle trap has been successfully used to trap flies and bees, but the pest of all pests — the mosquito — has not fallen yet for its intended doom. And the designer has tried almost everything: rotten O.J., hummingbird nectar, sugar water with yeast, stagnant pond water, Gatorade (for the electrolytes), perfume spritzes on all of the above and yeast on all of the above (to produce CO2.) Nothing yet in the mosquito department. What would it take to attract mosquitoes?  Blood itself?

Heck, I’ll participate in some of my own blood letting if I can guarantee that the mosquitoes around me will just disappear! (The comments section on this Thingiverse page has more ideas about attracting mosquitoes, so no worries…)

Are you considering printing out one of these traps?  Let us know how it turns out in the 3D Printed Bottle Trap forum thread on 3DPB.com.