Sustainability-In-Tech : AI Mosquito Traps Aim To Cut Spraying And Track Risks

Mosqitter is developing a network of AI-connected mosquito traps to help organisations monitor insect populations and respond more precisely, offering a potential way to reduce insecticide use as changing environmental conditions increase the need for surveillance.

From Catching Mosquitoes To Monitoring Them

The Pennsylvania-based company, whose research began in Ukraine in 2019, initially developed traps that attract mosquitoes by imitating the signals they follow when seeking people. It now wants those devices to provide information as well as catch insects.

Mosqitter says it now has more than 5,000 devices operating across five continents. Its Febris Monitoring System is intended to connect traps into a network serving customers such as public-health agencies, municipalities, airports and universities.

The company plans a formal introduction in November 2026, and its website already describes how detections would feed into a shared dashboard, allowing users to follow activity across multiple locations rather than inspect each trap separately.

Why Is Better Monitoring Needed?

Mosquito populations and the diseases they can transmit are affected by temperature, rainfall, travel and local conditions. Knowing which mosquitoes are present, where they are appearing and how their numbers change can therefore help authorities decide where further investigation or control is needed.

The World Health Organisation’s August 2025 fact sheet reported more than 14.6 million dengue cases worldwide in 2024. It identifies climate change, urbanisation, population movement and weaknesses in surveillance among the factors associated with increasing risks.

That creates a role for more frequent monitoring, particularly where conditions are changing. However, detecting mosquitoes is only one part of assessing disease risk, which also depends on whether pathogens are circulating and whether transmission can occur.

How Do The Traps Work?

Mosqitter’s devices use combinations of heat, light and scent to attract mosquitoes into a trap. Its larger Grand model also uses carbon dioxide to imitate human breathing, while the smaller Mini is marketed for residential settings.

Importantly, this approach avoids using insecticide spraying as the trapping mechanism. Mosqitter describes its Mini as using “heat, scent, and carefully tuned light wavelengths to mimic the natural cues mosquitoes follow”.

The company is also keen to highlight the importance placement. Its guidance recommends positioning traps away from seating areas because they attract insects, and advises users to consider shade, wind and nearby breeding sites. A device placed badly may draw mosquitoes towards people without catching enough to improve conditions.

What Does AI Add?

Febris, Mosqitter’s monitoring system, connects its traps to an online service so operators can track mosquito activity across several locations. Sensors record insect detections together with the location, time, temperature, humidity and air pressure, then send that information over mobile or Wi-Fi connections for AI analysis.

The results appear on a dashboard that combines detections with weather data to show how activity is changing. For example, an unusual increase at one site could prompt staff to investigate before their next scheduled visit.

The AI also helps identify the mosquitoes detected, although Mosqitter’s website currently describes identification to genus level, meaning a group of related species.

Can It Warn Of Disease?

Unfortunately, it doesn't promise to distinguish every individual species, which may be an important detail for organisations trying to monitor particular disease-carrying mosquitoes.

Confirming a pathogen requires appropriate testing, while predicting an outbreak needs more evidence than a rise in trap detections.

The quality of the monitoring also depends on reliable classification and representative coverage. A trap records insects reaching that location, so its catches can't automatically describe every nearby area.

For public-health teams, the useful question is whether the information supports faster, better decisions. That would need testing against expert identification and established monitoring methods, including how often the system misses important detections or raises unnecessary alerts.

Where Is The Sustainability Benefit?

By showing where mosquito activity is increasing, the system could help pest-control teams target problem areas and avoid spraying where it is unnecessary. In some locations, the traps themselves may also reduce the need for insecticides, provided they control mosquitoes effectively.

However, those potential savings need to be weighed against the resources required to manufacture, power and maintain the devices, including replacement nets and attractants. Evidence about which insects they catch would also help establish whether they protect beneficial species as the company claims.

The environmental benefit will therefore depend on whether the system can reduce insecticide use while maintaining effective mosquito control. Catching large numbers is encouraging, but it doesn't by itself prove that people experience fewer bites or that disease transmission has fallen.

What Does This Mean For Your Business?

For hotels, outdoor venues and facilities managers, a sensible trial would compare the technology with existing pest-control arrangements. Useful measures could include biting complaints, insecticide use, maintenance time and total costs, with expert checks on any identification results used to guide action.

UK organisations should also consider how new monitoring would support existing arrangements. UKHSA already operates mosquito surveillance with partner organisations and specialist identification, showing why automated alerts need a clear route to people who can assess and respond to them.

The opportunity here is really to turn routine pest control into better-informed prevention. Its value will depend on whether the data leads to effective action while reducing environmental harm.