Evaluation of commercial and field-expedient baited traps for house flies, Musca domestica L. (Diptera: Muscidae)

A comparison of nine 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 Boy, 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 effective than commercial traps, but painting the tops of such traps with black spray paint resulted in a six-fold increase in trap capture. Journal of Vector Ecology 34 (1): 99-103. 2009.