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In doing your usual excellent job of presenting information in interesting and lighthearted ways, you implied that bug zappers control mosquitoes. In fact, bug zappers don’t attract mosquitoes and therefore kill very few of them. They do kill large numbers of harmless and even beneficial insects, including pollinators and insects such as the crane fly, which would be out there eating mosquitoes if they weren’t zapped.

Merle Hetley
Bangor, Maine

I found the article interesting. Perhaps the researchers could confirm or refute the old saying “swat a mosquito (or blackfly), and 100 will come to the funeral.” My father used to say he was quoting his father. That would put the saying back to the mid-1800s at least.

Alden Gray
Ashfield, Mass.