Environment : Notes about your surroundings.

BUG ZAPPERS: Spring is in the air, and so are mosquitoes. There are several ways to deal with the pesky insects, but the popular electric device commonly referred to as a bug zapper is not among them, reports Peter J. Bryant, a professor of biology at UC Irvine.

The devices use an ultraviolet light behind an electrocuting grid to attract and kill insects. A recent University of Notre Dame study found that they do kill bugs: over an average 24-hour period, 3,212 insects were killed. But just 3.3% of the insects were female (biting) mosquitoes. In an 11-day study, there was no reduction in the rate of mosquito biting on human volunteers in the tested back yards.

The investigators recommend other methods to reduce mosquito biting: use of personal repellents, and removal of shrubbery and heavy ground cover, which provide resting areas for the insects.