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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 #190394
Title: INSECT TRAP

Author
item Hogsette, Jerome - Jerry
item Carlson, David

Submitted to: Patent Application
Publication Type: Patent Application
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/16/2002
Publication Date: 11/22/2005
Citation: Hogsette Jr, J.A., Carlson, D.A. 2005. Insect trap. U.S. Patent 6,966,142.

Interpretive Summary: Effective traps for management of nuisance flies indoors are generally limited to ultraviolet light traps and traps based on sticky papers or sticky ribbons without toxic chemicals. Often traps are concealed so that traps and dead flies are out of public view. There are locations in commercial establishments like bakeries where traps are needed but for which no traps have been designed. The Flybrella trap was designed by scientists at the USDA, ARS, Center for Medical, Agricultural and Veterinary Entomology located in Gainesville, Florida. Traps are meant to hang on overhead water and power lines where flies rest in commercial kitchens and bakeries. Flybrella attracts flies with a commercial attractant, and kills the hungry flies in less than 15 seconds with a commercial stomach poison inside a perforated tube. Dead flies are hidden in a shrouded container at the base of the trap. The best height to hang the Flybrella traps is about 6 feet, which is where flies tend to rest on overhead lines. Test results indicate that Flybrella will make a beneficial addition to fly management programs and allow for placement of traps in areas where no traps were previously available.

Technical Abstract: FLYBRELLA describes a lightweight inexpensive trap that can be hung like an upside-down umbrella in prominent locations where the house flies rest. It consists of a perforated transparent tube that house flies were found to enter readily, containing a strip of rapid-acting sugar-based toxicant. An inverted plastic cone (10 cm diameter) is attached to the backbone directly under the tube or bottle to collect house flies that feed, then fall directly down the tube. The cone collects and conceals the dead flies and may be easily emptied. Paired indoor tests with several attractant materials showed increased proportions of captured flies compared to the large fraction captured by the toxicant strip alone. Variants of this design were tested including a design with two concentric perforated baffles, and another with larger diameter tubing. The baffle with its toxicant strip may be removed and/or easily replaced. These devices are inexpensive, attractive in appearance, unobtrusive and may remain in place indefinitely.