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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Gainesville, Florida » Center for Medical, Agricultural and Veterinary Entomology » Mosquito and Fly Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #229594
Title: Evaluation of commercial and field-expedient baited traps for house flies, Musca domestica L. (Diptera: Muscidae).

Author
item Geden, Christopher - Chris
item SZUMLAS, DANIEL - US NAVY, JAX, FL
item WALKER, TODD - US NAVY, JAX, FL

Submitted to: Journal of Vector Ecology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/9/2009
Publication Date: 6/9/2009
Citation: Geden, C.J., Szumlas, D.E., Walker, T.W. 2009. Evaluation of commercial and field-expedient baited traps for house flies, Musca domestica L. (Diptera: Muscidae). Journal of Vector Ecology. 34(1):99-103.

Interpretive Summary: House flies are important vectors of a wide variety of food-borne diseases that have a substantial impact on livestock production and public health. Traps baited with a variety of attractive materials have been mainstay of fly control efforts since antiquity, and there is a wealth of information on specific odors that are attractive to flies. Consumers who wish to employ traps for fly control are confronted with a plethora of commercial products, yet there is surprising lack of published information on the effectiveness of these products. This study, conducted by scientists with USDA’s Center for Medical, Veterinary and Agricultural Entomology in Gainesville (Florida) and the Navy Entomology Center of Excellence (Jacksonville, FL), compared the effectiveness of nine popular commercial traps on dairy farms. The most effective traps were the Terminator, Final Flight, Fly Magnet, and FliesBeGone products. The effectiveness of home-made traps constructed from discarded plastic bottles was also tested. Home-made traps were much less effective than the commercial models, but painting the tops of such traps with black spray paint resulted in a 6-fold increase in trap capture. The results will assist civilian and military customers in selecting traps that provide fly control at a reasonable cost.

Technical Abstract: A comparison of 9 commercial baited fly traps on Florida dairy farms demonstrated that Terminator traps collected significantly more (13,323/trap) house flies (Musca domestica L.) than the others tested; Final Flight, Fly Magnet and FliesBeGone traps collected intermediate numbers of flies (834-2,166), and relatively few were caught with ISCA, Advantage, Fermone Big Biy, Squeeze & Snap, or OakStump traps (<300). Terminator traps collected about twice as many flies (799.8/trap) as FliesBeGone traps (343.8) when each trap was baited with its respective attractant, but when the attractants were switched between the two trap types, collections were significantly lower (77-108) than was observed with traps baited with their respective attractant. Solutions of molasses were significantly more attractive to house flies than honey, maple syrup, or jaggery (date palm sugar). Field-expedient traps constructed from discarded PET water bottles were much less than effective than commercial traps, but painting the tops of such traps with black spray paint resulted in a 6-fold increase in trap capture.