"The BG-Counter allows a standardized approach to gathering relative mosquito population data as all traps can be programed to collect mosquitoes at the exact same time using the exact same methods." (Hribar et al. 2022)
"BG Counters are a time-saving measure for many inspectors as they will no longer dedicate two hours each day to driving to distant and isolated Landing Rate Counts site" (Hribar et al., 2022)
"The BG-Counter was able to add a new dimension to our understanding of nightly, weekly and monthly mosquito activity." (Kartinzel & Clifton, Presentation at AMCA 2018)
BG-Counter 2: a remote monitoring device for mosquitoes
The BG-Counter 2 offers remote monitoring with automated mosquito counting from anywhere in the world at any time. The innovative smart device is placed on top of a Biogents mosquito trap. It differentiates mosquitoes from other insects, counts them, and wirelessly transmits the results to a cloud server. With the BG-Counter App, you can manage your traps and analyze your data.
Optimize the effectiveness of your control activities and therefore save money! Additionally, remote monitoring saves time and manpower, and is thus also more economical:
Collect data ➜ Analyze data ➜ Adapt control measures ➜ Save money
• Automatic mosquito counting
• Trap management from the office
• Comprehensive analysis
• Better treatment timing
• More effective treatment
• Better control for less money
The BG-Counter enables real-time measurements as well as historical analysis of infested areas. Vector control professionals can now establish surveillance programs with unprecedented accuracy and temporal resolution of data, overcoming labour constraints associated with manual inspection.
Automatic mosquito counting
The BG-Counter counts mosquitoes while they are sucked into a Biogents trap and differentiates them from other insects or dust particles.
Reports of mosquito counts and environmental data (temperature, humidity and ambient light) are remotely sent to the BG-Counter App, where they are available in real-time.
Mosquito counts with an accuracy of 90% have been established in field tests when working with CO2.
Up to 5 mosquitoes per second can be recorded.
Detailed insights into activity patterns
Continuous and high density data allow better control
The BG-Counter reports mosquito counts every 15 minutes. This high density of data gives you unprecedented insights into mosquito activity patterns: You can find out exactly at which time of the day the mosquitoes are more abundant.
Data analysis: Various time ranges and aggregation levels available
You can analyze daily, weekly, and monthly activity patterns for a variety of time ranges.
Diffentiate between day and night
For aggregated data (daily/monthly/weekly) you can visualize mosquito activity during the night and day separately.
Optimization of control activities
Heatmaps: Easy identification of mosquito hotspots
If you have several BG-Counters, heatmaps show you which traps had a high or low catch rate.
Threshold value for the application of control measures
If you use the trap data for decision making to apply control measures, you can set a threshold value for each of your locations: You get warnings if the threshold is exceeded and a the threshold map shows, which traps were above that threshold.
Alternative to human landing rates
The BG-Counter can be a suitable decision maker for control actions instead of human landing counts as several customers have reported.
Benefits of using BG-Counters as an alternative to human landing counts:
standartized, reliable collection method
collections 24/7 at many locations at the same time
real-time availability of the data
cost-saving
time-saving
ethically correct
Cost saving
Save money on fieldwork
Very little fieldwork time is required, to have a BG-Counter operating that send you data every 15 minutes, 24/7. One of our customers estimated 3h of field work per trap for a trapping period of 1 month. This saves you a lot of manpower!
Save money through optimization
Optimizing your control activities also reduces costs due to more specific and therefore more effective application.
The BG-Counter 2 counts mosquitoes while they are sucked into a Biogents trap and differentiates them from other insects or dust particles.
Mosquito counts with an accuracy of 90% have been established in field tests when working with CO2 as an attractant.
Up to 5 mosquitoes per second can be recorded.
Sampling of local environmental data: temperature, humidity and ambient light.
The effectiveness of control measures can be validated immediately.
The BG-Counter 2 minimizes maintenance effort: it can run on solar power and is self-sustaining. It is robust and well protected against weather.
The BG-Counter includes
1x mobile module
1x SIM card for data transmission
1x fan adapter cable
1x battery cable
1x mains supply
1x CO2 pressure reducing regulator with output pressure of 2 bars
1x CO2 tube
1x BG-Pro Counter version (1x funnel net, 2x catch bag, 1x inner cylinder with upper part and lower part with 12V fan, 1x trap body, 1x carrying bag, 1x tripod)
Necessary web application:
To manage the BG-Counter via the web application (the BG-Counter App), an annual subscription fee is necessary. Please contact our sales team for this subscription: sales@biogents.com
Technical details
The patented insect sensor consists of arrays of infrared LEDs and light detectors that provide reliable and sensitive detection and differentiation of moquitoes from other objects entering the trap.
The heart of the BG-Counter 2 is a highly integrated printed circuit board which incorporates:
An infrared sensor
environmental sensors for temperature, relative humidity and ambient light
a cellular module for communication with the web server
an SD card for onboard data storage, fan and CO2 valve control
two powerful microprocessors for control and communication
BG-Trap Station
Biogents‘ BG-Trap Station is a robust and ideal shelter for your BG-Counter 2.
The BG-Trap station
is made of stainless steel
protects your BG-Counter 2 from environmental conditions
can be attached to any type of terrain
Solar power
You can run the BG-Counter 2 on solar power. In this way, remote monitoring get’s even easier!
In the video below, Catherine Pruszynski from the Florida Keys Mosquito Control District shows how to set up the BG-Counter 2 with a solar panel.
How to set up a solar powered BG-Counter with a BG-Pro mosquito trap - video made by the Florida Keys Mosquito Control District
The BG-Counter app is a vital part of the BG-Counter 2. The Counter sends data from the field (mosquito counts, environmental data, geospatial data) to the web-based BG-Counter App. The data base is automatically updated with the data constantly generated in the field.
In the BG-Counter App, you can:
Efficiently manage and monitor your traps
Set up time schedules for traps and CO2
Comprehensively analyze your data
Trap management and monitoring
The dashboard gives an instant overview of locations and helps you to plan your operations, as it includes relevant informaton such as the catch count since last noon, warning icons, signal strength, fan status, and similar.
On the location-specific pages of the dashboard, the App provides catch statistics tables, graphs of catch counts and temperature, and relative humidity, dew point, battery voltage, and ambient light.
Click to enlarge. BG-Counter App dashboard: The Location table gives you an overview of your traps.
Click to enlarge. BG-Counter App dashboard: Location summary page with location info, catch count graph, trap status parameter graphs and catch statistics table.
Comprehensive data analysis:
Analysis of mosquito activity patterns can be performed for different time ranges, and with different temporal resolutions (15 mins, daily, weekly, monthly).
Click to enlarge. Analyzer of the BG-Counter App. The graph shows the data of one location, for a time range of 1 day at a temporal resolution of 15 min.
Click to enlarge. Analyzer of the BG-Counter App. The graph shows the data of one location, for a time range of one month, and daily aggregated data.
The activity of day and night-active mosquitoes can be visualized separately.
Analyzer of the BG-Counter app. The graph shows the daily aggregated data for one location for a time range of one month. Mosquito catches during day and night are shown separately.
It is possible to directly compare multiple locations, and to perform group-based analyses
Analyzer of the BG-Counter App: Comparison of 5 locations. Locations can be selected one by one, or by choosing a group that includes multiple locations.
Mosquito hotspots can be identified with the help of infestation maps
Analyzer of the BG-Counter App. The heatmap shows the relative density of mosquitoes at each location.
Analyzer of the BG-Counter App. The threshold map shows, which locations are above a certain threshold.
The BG-Counter 2 comes with a CO2 pressure regulator and we strongly recommend to use the BG-Counter with CO2!
Adding carbon dioxide
Makes the trap highly attractive for all mosquito species
Highly increases the overall mosquito catch rate
Highly increases the trap’s specificity for mosquitoes (and other blood-sucking insects)
Tipps for saving CO2:
Limited hours: To save CO2, you can define time periods in which CO2 is being released, after you have established the daily activity pattern of your local target mosquito species.
Selected days: To be able to track possible changes in the activity of day, and night-active mosquitoes, you could also choose one day per week, in which you turn on CO2 for 24 h.
Specific pattern: If you always want to keep a close eye on day-and night active mosquitoes around the clock, you might as well choose a schedule of 30 min CO2/ 30 min CO2 off or similar.
Lower release rate: We recommend a flow rate of 50 g/h (default setting), as it it the optimum for attracting mosquitoes. In the BG-Counter App Settings, you can also select a lower release rate of 20 g/h or 10 g/h. Keep in mind, that the accuracy of the BG-Counter might decrease with a decreasing flow rate.
It is however important that you keep in mind, that your BG-Counter will only collect reliable data with CO2.
BG-Lure
We highly recommend that you use the BG-Lure in addition to CO2 as it acts as an synergist and can multiply your mosquito catch rates:
Result of a 4×4 Latin square field test of four BG-Sentinel traps in Cesenatico, Italy (N=11).
Hribar LJ, Boehmler MB, Murray HL, Pruszynski CA, Leal AL. Mosquito Surveillance and Insecticide Resistance Monitoring Conducted by the Florida Keys Mosquito Control District, Monroe County, Florida, USA. Insects 2022, 13, 927. https://doi.org/10.3390/insects13100927
Wheeler SS, Reed M, Ramos S, Goodman G, Elkashef S (2022). Programmatic review of the mosquito control methods used in the highly industrialized rice agroecosystems of Sacramento and Yolo Counties, California. Wetlands Ecol Manage. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11273-022-09893-1
Johnson BJ, Manby R, Devine GJ (2022). The Use of Automated Traps to Assess the Efficacy of Insecticide Barrier Treatments Against Abundant Mosquitoes in Remote Environments. Journal of Medical Entomology, 59(1):384-389. https://doi.org/10.1093/jme/tjab178
Johnson BJ, Manby R, Devine GJ (2020). Further evidence that development and buffer zones do little to reduce mosquito nuisance from neighboring habitat. Journal of the American Mosquito Control Association, 36(3):204–207, 2020. https://doi.org/10.2987/20-6951.1
Johnson BJ, Manby R, Devine GJ (2020). What Happens on Islands, doesn’t Stay on Islands: Patterns of Synchronicity in Mosquito Nuisance and Host-Seeking Activity between a Mangrove Island and Adjacent Coastal Development. Urban Ecosystems. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11252-020-00998-0
Pruszynski C (2016) The BG-Counter: A New Surveillance Trap that Remotely Measures Mosquito Density in Real Time. Wing Beats 27(1):13-18.
Posters
Geier et. al (2016) A smart Internet of Things (loT) device for monitoring mosquito trap counts in the field while drinking coffee at your desk. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/294580125
DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.1.5156.5843
440 smart mosquito traps to be deployed across UAE
Tadweer has developed an effective, efficient and sustainable way to trap mosquitoes. More than 400 solar-powered smart traps will be installed across the country from February 1 to catch mosquitoes and thus keep a check on the outbreak of diseases like malaria, dengue, Yellow Fever and West Nile Virus, an official from Abu Dhabi Waste Management Centre (Tadweer) said. Read the full original article in the Kaleej Times >
Customer videos
Video: Rentokil Boecker Collaboration with TADWEER to Protect Abu Dhabi Emirate
The new customer registration page has the fields specified below that you should fill in. Note that the fields marked with an asterisk are mandatory to fill, while the others are optional.
Personal Information*
Mailing Address
Technical Contact
Billing Contact
After clicking on “Confirm”, a new account is created. You will receive a confirmation e-mail (please have also a look for the e-mail in your spam folder) with a link to verify your e-mail and set a password.
go to “Profile” to set a new password for your account
go to “Traps” and click on the blue “New Trap” button in the top right corner of the screen. Enter one or multiple IMEIs (comma separated) in the field. Click the blue “Assign” button to register your BG-Counter(s). You find the IMEI on a sticker at the side of the BG-Counter, at the side of the BG-Counter box, and on a sticker on the registration flyer in the BG-Counter box.
go to “Dashboard”, then click on a location name, then on the “View/Edit” button to change the location name, schedule, mosquito catch threshold, custom groups, etc.
go to “Users”, then click on the “New User” button to invite other users
go to “Analyzer” to analyze your data
Manual and Support:
You can download the manual with a detailed description of all counter and website functions here:
Rosales A., 
Heinig R, Puente J, Brake P, Phillips N, Lucas K. 
Reed M., Wheeler S., Dritz D., Samer Elkashef S. 