Have a couple of small, shallow ponds at my camp in the boonies. Two dried up the last two years, killing off most of the dragonfly population. (Takes 'em two years underwater to mature.) We no longer have Combat Air Patrol, fine at our house though. So bad out there that bug spray doesn’t work even if you bathe in it. Never had issues before. Because I had dragonflies. I’m sure the 10" of snow, in Florida upset things just a tad. Fucking global warming.
Anyway, searched a bit and everyone wants to sell me a bug zapper. A) I don’t have power unless I run a genny. B) Those things are indiscriminate and we humans have nuked the insect population as is.
There has to be some way to attract them into a trap. I know they target mammalian CO2 exhalations, and to a lesser extent, warmth. Seems like there should be an easy way to suck the mindless beasts into a black hole. ?
The problems with CO2 traps aside from them emitting yet more CO2 (every bit counts) is that it’s something you have to constantly resupply, most of the CO2 is wasted because of how it works, wind can affect its performance, and it uses energy, so isn’t all that passive. Attacking the larvae stage in various ways is a better method. And of course reducing or eliminating any standing water where they can breed, although there are species that use damp soil.