BuzzSkito Mosquito & Tick Control Specialists · Published July 14, 2026
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Why CO2 is the master mosquito cue
Every mosquito trap is trying to win the same race your own body enters every time you step outside: the competition to be the most obvious host. A host-seeking female locks onto a plume of carbon dioxide from up to 10 metres away, then closes the gap using body heat and the smell of your skin. We wrote a whole breakdown of that hunt in what attracts mosquitoes to you — but the short version is that CO2 is the long-range beacon. That is exactly why a CO2 mosquito trap can out-compete you: it pumps out a bigger, more convincing plume than a single person, and it never swats.
The device follows a simple loop. Release CO2 and a skin-scent lure, let the plume drift downwind, and when a female flies upwind to investigate, a suction fan pulls her into a catch bag where she dehydrates within hours. The differences between traps come down to one question: how do you generate the CO2? Answer that, and you have basically chosen your trap.
The three ways a trap makes CO2 (and why it matters)
1. Sugar & yeast fermentation
The cheapest, greenest, and weakest method. Mix sugar, water, and yeast in a bottle and the fermentation exhales a trickle of CO2. It is the DIY-mosquito-trap staple all over YouTube. The problem: the output is tiny and inconsistent, it fades within days, and in the July heat it goes sour fast. It is a fun science-fair project, not a serious control tool. Biogents sells a managed sugar-yeast option as part of its CO2 booster line, which is more reliable than a pop-bottle rig but still modest.
2. Propane combustion
This is the Mosquito Magnet approach: burn propane through a catalytic converter and you get a strong, steady CO2 plume plus warmth and moisture — a very realistic fake human. The upside is reach: a good propane unit works across roughly an acre. The downside is that combustion is the entire mechanism, so the 20 lb tank is mandatory, and you will swap it about every three weeks all season, plus feed it attractant cartridges. If you want that reach, our propane mosquito trap guide covers the models and the tank math in detail.
3. Electric fan + chemical lure (the Biogents way)
Here is the ‘no tank required’ answer people are searching for. Biogents traps run on a wall plug and the BG-Lure — an artificial-skin attractant that reproduces the fatty acids, lactic acid, and ammonia your skin gives off. The fan and lure alone catch mosquitoes with zero CO2. You can optionally clip on the BG-Booster to add a compressed-CO2 cylinder or a managed sugar-yeast generator for heavy-pressure yards, but it is a boost, not a requirement. No combustion, no fuel runs, no tank storage — just a plug and a lure you replace every few months.
The lure is the part that runs out mid-season, and an expired cartridge is the most common reason a working trap stops catching. Buy the refill with the trap so you are not waiting on shipping in July.
Why Biogents is the trap researchers actually use
This is the part that separates Biogents from the wall of generic ‘electric CO2 mosquito killer’ boxes on Amazon.ca. The company’s BG-Sentinel trap — the professional model behind the consumer BG-Home and BG-Mosquitaire — is a standard tool in academic mosquito surveillance. When public-health researchers need to count how many Aedes or Culex mosquitoes are in an area, the BG-Sentinel is one of the traps they set. The patented airflow and the BG-Lure were refined against real capture data, not a marketing brief.
For a homeowner that pedigree matters in a concrete way: the consumer traps inherit the same airflow geometry and the same lure chemistry that earned the research trap its reputation. As GTA operators, we would rather point a customer to a design with peer-reviewed capture data behind it than to a no-name unit whose only evidence is a five-star review and a stock photo. No backyard trap is a silver bullet — but if you are going to buy one, buy the one with the science.
The BG-GAT: the quiet genius of the lineup
The single most interesting trap Biogents makes needs no power and no CO2 at all. The BG-GAT (Gravid Aedes Trap) hunts a very specific, very valuable target: the gravid female — a mosquito that has already bitten someone, is now carrying eggs, and is prowling for a place to lay them. You fill the GAT with water and a grass-infusion lure so it smells like the perfect breeding puddle. She enters through a funnel to lay, hits a sticky or insecticidal surface, and never comes back out.
Why does that matter more than catching random flyers? Because you are removing the exact insects about to seed the next generation. Kill one gravid female and you cancel the 100–300 eggs she was about to lay. GATs are deployed in clusters — three or more around a property — and they are ideal for the situations where a plug-in trap is a pain: cottages, off-grid yards, dense garden beds. They are also aimed squarely at Aedes — the aggressive, daytime-biting container mosquitoes that shrug off dusk-focused tactics. For a cottage owner who wants set-and-forget control with no electricity, a GAT cluster is genuinely clever.
Electric vs propane: the cost-per-season math
The convenience gap between electric and propane traps shows up hardest in the running cost across an Ontario season (roughly May through September — see our Mosquito Magnet Canada breakdown for the propane side in full).
- Propane trap: about 6 tank refills across the season at $25–$40 each, plus attractant cartridges every ~3 weeks. Budget roughly $350–$550/season in consumables on top of the device — and that is before the inconvenience of hauling tanks.
- Electric Biogents (lure only): pennies of electricity per day plus a BG-Lure replacement every few months. Realistically $60–$120/season in consumables. No tanks, ever.
- Electric Biogents + CO2 booster: add cylinder refills if you run compressed CO2; still no propane, and you only run the booster when pressure is high.
- BG-GAT (passive): only water and refill lures — the cheapest of all to keep running.
If you are running a propane unit instead, the octenol attractant cartridge is the consumable people forget until the long weekend it runs out on. It is a separate purchase from the fuel.
For a standard 5,000–15,000 sq ft (465–1,400 m²) suburban lot in Mississauga or the wider GTA, the electric-plus-lure setup almost always makes more sense: lower running cost, no combustion, no tank storage in the garage. Propane only pulls ahead when raw coverage on a 1+ acre lot is the priority. If you are still weighing the whole category — UV, propane, electric, and everything else — our best mosquito trap in Canada guide ranks them head-to-head.
Where to place a CO2 trap in an Ontario yard
- Away from where you sit — 3–10 m (10–30 ft) from the patio so the trap intercepts mosquitoes before they reach you, not in the middle of your gathering.
- In shade, near vegetation — mosquitoes rest in cool, humid, shaded spots during the day; place the trap on the edge of that resting habitat.
- Out of strong wind — a stiff breeze shreds the CO2 plume. Tuck the trap into a sheltered pocket of the yard.
- Run it continuously — traps are a population tool. Switching them off for a week lets the numbers rebound. Set it and leave it from May to September.
- Deploy GATs in clusters — one GAT is a data point; three or more around the yard perimeter is a control strategy.
Traps vs professional barrier spray: use both
A CO2 trap and a professional barrier spray are not rivals — they cover different timelines. The trap slowly draws the biting-female population down inside its zone and keeps working all season. The barrier spray treats the shaded leaf surfaces where mosquitoes rest and is re-applied through the season. Only one of them has a tick option, and it is the spray — no CO2 trap catches ticks, because ticks do not fly to a plume.
The strongest real-world setup we see in GTA backyards is a professional barrier spray for whole-yard treatment plus a Biogents trap or a GAT cluster to keep pulling the population down between treatments. If ticks are also on your radar — and in Mississauga and Halton they should be — a trap does nothing for them; that is a job for a permethrin perimeter or a dedicated tick program.
One cheap thing worth having in the drawer either way: a fine-point tick remover. Ticks come off cleanest with a proper hook or pointed tweezers rather than whatever is in the junk drawer, and you want it before you need it, not after.
Bottom line for Canadian buyers in 2026
If you want a CO2 mosquito trap and you have a normal suburban yard, buy an electric Biogents unit and skip the tank entirely — the running cost is a fraction of propane and the capture design has real research behind it. If you have a cottage or a 1+ acre rural lot, a propane trap’s reach or a cluster of passive BG-GATs is the better fit. And whatever trap you run, pair it with a professional barrier spray for the whole yard, and a separate tick strategy if blacklegged ticks are in your area.
Related Reading
- Propane Mosquito Traps in Canada — Bigger Coverage, More Fuel
- Best Mosquito Trap in Canada — Every Type Ranked
- Mosquito Magnet Canada — Where to Buy + Do They Work
- What Attracts Mosquitoes to You
- BuzzSkito Professional Mosquito Control Service
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a CO2 mosquito trap and how does it actually work?+
A CO2 (carbon dioxide) mosquito trap mimics the three cues a female mosquito uses to find a blood host: exhaled CO2, body heat, and skin scent. The trap releases a CO2 plume plus a chemical lure that imitates human skin compounds (lactic acid, ammonia, fatty acids). Host-seeking females fly upwind toward the source, and a quiet suction fan pulls them into a catch bag or net where they dehydrate and die. There are three ways traps generate that CO2: sugar-and-yeast fermentation (cheap, weak), propane combustion (Mosquito Magnet style), and electric traps that use a compressed CO2 cylinder or run on the lure alone. Biogents (BG) traps — the ones used in academic mosquito research — are the electric, fan-driven type and are the reason people search for a 'no tank required' option.
Do Biogents mosquito traps actually work, and are they what researchers use?+
Yes. Biogents is the brand mosquito scientists genuinely deploy. The BG-Sentinel trap (the professional research model) is the standard surveillance tool used in published studies and by public-health surveillance programs worldwide to monitor Aedes and Culex populations. The consumer versions — BG-Home and BG-Mosquitaire — use the same patented airflow design and the same BG-Lure (an artificial-skin attractant) that made the research trap effective. That research pedigree is why we point homeowners to Biogents over generic 'CO2 mosquito killer' units on Amazon.ca: the capture data behind the design is real, not marketing. No backyard trap eliminates 100% of mosquitoes, but a properly placed Biogents unit meaningfully reduces the biting females in its zone over a few weeks of continuous running.
Biogents vs Mosquito Magnet — which CO2 trap is better?+
They solve different problems. Mosquito Magnet (and other propane traps) burn propane to generate a large CO2 plume and can pull mosquitoes across up to about 1 acre (4,000 m²) — great for rural acreage and cottage country, but you are buying and hauling a 20 lb propane tank roughly every 3 weeks plus attractant cartridges. Biogents electric traps cover a smaller zone (a patio or a section of a suburban yard) but run on a wall plug and a replaceable lure, so there is no tank, no combustion, and no fuel run to Canadian Tire mid-summer. For a typical GTA suburban backyard, the lower running cost and zero-tank convenience of a Biogents unit usually wins. For a 1+ acre rural lot, propane's reach is worth the hassle. Many cottage owners run both.
Do I need a CO2 tank or cylinder to run a Biogents trap?+
No — that is the headline advantage. The core Biogents traps (BG-Home and the standard BG-Mosquitaire) run on electricity plus the BG-Lure chemical attractant and catch mosquitoes without any added CO2. If you have heavy pressure and want to maximise catch, you can optionally add CO2 with the BG-Booster / BG-CO2 accessory, which either connects a small compressed-CO2 cylinder or uses a sugar-yeast generator to sweeten the plume. So CO2 is a boost, not a requirement. This is the opposite of a propane trap, where combustion is the whole mechanism and the tank is mandatory. In practice, most GTA homeowners start with the lure-only setup and only add the CO2 booster if they back onto a ravine, pond, or wetland.
What is the BG-GAT and why do pest professionals like it?+
The BG-GAT (Gravid Aedes Trap) is a clever, low-tech trap that targets the mosquito that matters most in a backyard: the pregnant (gravid) female looking for a spot to lay eggs. It uses no power and no CO2 at all. You add water and a grass-infusion or lure so it smells like an ideal breeding puddle; the female enters through a funnel to lay eggs, hits a sticky surface or insecticidal net, and never leaves. Because you are killing egg-laying females, each catch prevents a whole next generation. GATs are deployed in clusters (three or more around a property) and are ideal for cottages, off-grid sites, and dense-vegetation yards where running a plug-in trap is impractical. They specifically hammer Aedes species — the aggressive daytime-biting container mosquitoes — which is exactly the group barrier spray and personal repellent struggle to fully suppress.
How much does it cost to run a CO2 mosquito trap for a season in Canada?+
It depends on the CO2 source. A propane trap (Mosquito Magnet type) is the expensive one to feed: roughly 6 propane tank refills across a May–September Ontario season at $25–$40 each, plus attractant cartridges every 3 weeks — call it $350–$550/season in consumables on top of the device. An electric Biogents trap running on the lure alone costs only pennies of electricity per day plus a BG-Lure replacement every few months (a small pack), so realistically $60–$120/season in consumables. If you add the CO2 booster with compressed cylinders, budget more for cylinder refills. Net: electric-with-lure is by far the cheapest to run, propane is the most expensive, and the BG-GAT (passive) costs only refill lures and water.
Where can I buy Biogents and other CO2 mosquito traps in Canada?+
Amazon.ca carries the Biogents lineup (BG-Home, the BG-GAT trap kits, and BG-Booster/CO2 accessories) with the most reliable Canadian stock and shipping. Biogents also sells direct and through specialty pest-supply retailers. Big-box stores (Canadian Tire, Home Depot Canada, Costco) tend to stock propane traps and cheaper UV/CO2 combo units seasonally rather than the research-grade Biogents traps, so if you specifically want the BG design, order online. Always confirm you are getting the current model and a Canadian plug, and buy replacement BG-Lures at the same time so you are not caught without an attractant mid-season.
Are CO2 mosquito traps regulated by Health Canada or the PMRA?+
A trap that works purely by physical capture — CO2 plume, a scent lure, a fan, and a net — is a device, not a pesticide, so it does not require a PMRA (Health Canada Pest Management Regulatory Agency) pest control product registration the way a spray does. However, if a trap uses an insecticidal surface or treated net (some BG-GAT configurations do), the treated component may fall under pesticide rules and should carry a PCP registration number. The lures themselves are scent attractants rather than insecticides. None of this changes the practical takeaway: traps are legal to buy and run across Ontario, and unlike a spray they add no residual pesticide to your yard surfaces.
CO2 trap vs professional barrier spray — which should a GTA homeowner choose?+
They work on different timelines and are genuinely complementary. A CO2 trap slowly draws down the biting-female population in its zone over 2–6 weeks and keeps working all season — it is a population tool. A professional barrier spray is applied to the shaded vegetation where mosquitoes rest on the day of the visit and re-applied through the season, and tick treatment can be added (no CO2 trap touches ticks). Before a BBQ or a wedding, spray is the tool to book. For chronic, all-summer pressure and a no-spray approach, a trap earns its place. The strongest setup for most Mississauga and GTA backyards is barrier spray for whole-yard treatment plus a Biogents trap or a cluster of GATs to keep pulling the population down between treatments.
Can a CO2 mosquito trap catch ticks too?+
No. Ticks do not fly and are not drawn to a CO2 plume the way host-seeking mosquitoes are — they quest by climbing vegetation and waiting for a host to brush past. A flying-insect suction trap simply never intercepts them. If ticks are your concern (and in the GTA, blacklegged/deer ticks carrying Lyme are a rising problem), you need a ground-level solution: a permethrin-based yard perimeter treatment, tick tubes, keeping grass short, and a professional tick program. BuzzSkito runs a dedicated tick barrier program at $597/season standalone or $497/season bundled with a mosquito plan. Do not expect any mosquito trap — CO2, propane, or UV — to reduce your tick load.