Spiders up in the corners of the ceiling. Mosquitoes lurking on the wall by the light. Flies on the windowpane. They're hard to hit, and when you do, they squish. So don't even try to hit them...

The Bugzooka looks and sounds (and is priced) like a kids' toy but it has highly evolved efficiency. No batteries. Just cock the bellows on your hip, point the extendable end to within an inch or two of the offending insect, thumb the trigger, and FWOOP!, insect magically gone. Stroll the country house--- thirty spiders, fwoopety-fwoop, all gone in five minutes.

The bugs are sucked in good condition into a chamber on the end of the Bugzooka where they can be studied by a child (probably male) or released humanely. If you really don't care to see the bugs up close, the kit includes a smoked-plastic version of the capture chamber. Now that's nuance.

-- Stewart Brand

Bugzooka
$20
Available from Amazon