Two unnamed Denver men devised a flytrap in 1911. It was a tabletop object with a small oak drawer and base, and a system of 5 incandescent lamps that would attract mosquitoes to their electrocution. The image caption read: “The flies are supposed to be attracted by bait within the cage and be electrocuted when they attempt to get at it.” The bait within was meat, so flies were caught almost in the same way one tries to catch a white shark. This is considered the precursor of the bug zapper, an ever-present garden gadget necessary in summer outdoor dinner parties. The flytrap is the antithesis of the insect collector, a killing machine that attempts the quixotic task of getting rid of mosquitoes. In Costa Rica, locals told me not to worry about mosquitoes, because getting rid of them is impossible, and one might as well forget about them. I tried and they kept biting me although after weeks of being there, the bites were less and less (perhaps I just did not pay that much attention). The point is this: the bug zapper is one of those objects that are specific to a consumerist society like ours that has always tried to fully control nature and believes comfort is a constant struggle that may only be won by inventing ever more superfluous gadgets. Nobody really likes mosquito bites, but putting your best wits to inventing something like the device above seems irrational.
