Protect Your Home

Quick answer The Asian tiger mosquito (Aedes albopictus) is a small, black mosquito with bright white stripes on its legs and a single white stripe down the middle of its back. Unlike most backyard mosquitoes, it bites during the day, with peaks in the ea...

Quick answer A DIY mosquito trap uses the same cue mosquitoes use to find you: carbon dioxide. The classic version is a 2-liter bottle with warm water, brown sugar and a little baker's yeast. As the yeast ferments the sugar it releases CO2, and mosquito...

Quick Answer Most backyard mosquitoes are most active around dawn and dusk, roughly from an hour before to an hour after sunset, but it depends on the species. Container-breeding Aedes mosquitoes bite during the day, whi...

Quick Answer A handful of scents genuinely bother mosquitoes, but far fewer than the internet claims, and almost none last long. The strongest evidence is for oil of lemon eucalyptus (OLE) and its active ingredient PMD, which the CDC lists among it...

Quick Answer Mosquito larvae, often called "wigglers," are the water-dwelling stage of a mosquito. They are worm-like, usually black or brown, about 6 to 13 mm (¼ to ½ inch) long, and they live in ...

Tougher Than Tom | Updated: July 2026 Quick Answer The mosquito repellents that actually work are the ones registered with the EPA for skin: DEET, picaridin (icaridin), IR3535, oil o...

Quick Answer A handful of plants really can help repel mosquitoes — but almost none of them work just by sitting in a pot. The repellent oils are locked inside the leaves, so you only get a real effect when you crush the leaves to release t...

Quick Answer Mosquito repellent bracelets and ultrasonic apps mostly don’t work — at least not the way people hope. The two are different gadgets with the same disappointing result. Ultrasonic repellers (phone apps and little plu...

Quick Answer Citronella candles work, but only a little, and only in a small, calm space. Citronella is a genuine plant-based repellent — its scent helps mask the carbon dioxide and skin odors that mosquitoes use to find you. The weakness isn’t the...

Quick Answer Bug zappers are a poor tool for mosquito control. The classic electric zapper lures insects with ultraviolet (UV) light, but mosquitoes don’t hunt by light — they home in on the carbon dioxide (CO₂), body heat, and skin odor Read more