Do Bug Zappers Work? Q. I believed I read somewhere that bug zappers don’t really work. My neighbor’s zapper is driving me loopy with that ZZZZT noise all evening. I’d like to point out him proof that every one he’s doing is annoying his neighbor. A. Yes, there is some scientific information on the usefulness of bug zappers, however first we'd like to differentiate between the bug zappers that homeowners use of their yards to (hopefully) kill mosquitoes, and the commercial insect gentle traps that pest control professionals use mostly in restaurants, food plants, and warehouses. These expensive industrial traps are used mainly to kill house flies and so they do work. The comparatively cheap backyard bug zappers kill plenty of flying insects, simply not mosquitoes. Bug zappers use ultraviolet mild to attract mosquitoes to a metal grid where they're electrocuted or "zapped." People that own these traps swear by them. They level to the piles of dead insects that they empty out of the trap each morning. And those insects do appear to be mosquitoes. But largely they're midges, harmless fliers that don't chew and are thought of useful. Bug zappers truly attract and kill only a few mosquitoes. Instead, the ultraviolet light attracts hordes of insects into the yard that wouldn’t have been there otherwise. Yard zappers have by no means fared very well in research assessments. One study found that 89% of the zapped insects had been midges