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Universal Insect Trap

7/20/2011

5 Comments

 
Picture
Picture
This is a simple yet very effective trap for flies, mosquito's, wasps, and even fruit flies. The key to the trap is in the bait. For flies, any fresh rotting meat will work. Raw hamburger or similar works just fine. The more disgusting the smell, the greater the fly response. For wasps, and fruit flies, a piece of banana or a sugar solution usually works. The banana gives off ethyl acetate gas odor and that is attractive to several species of insects. The recipe for mosquito attractant follows the next photo and requires some explanation. In this trap, I used a 2 liter plastic bottle, but smaller will also work as well. Begin by placing a straight edge along the bottle as shown and mark just behind where the curved top starts. And then cut the top off as illustrated:

Picture
I painted the funnel part black to show how it is inserted. (The white disk in the lead photo is 1/8 inch foam board that is perforated to catch fruit flies for examination). If the funnel is too loose, just add some tape to secure. Put the selected bait in the bottom, add the funnel, and catch the enemy!  The recipe for mosquito's is more controversial. We do know that they are attracted to carbon dioxide from skin and breath. But, it is a bit more complicated than that. But this recipe does generate CO2 and worth trying: Mix 200 ml of warm water with 1/3 cup of sugar. Add 1 package of dry yeast that is used to make bread, available at any market. The fermentation will slowly generate CO2 and will do so for about two weeks. I have one going now and will report as results come in. When the trap is full you can cover the top and place in the refrigerator to kill the insects. Alternatively, a cotton ball can be saturated with ammonia and dropped in the trap while covering the top. I have used this approach for flies and it has been very successful.
Here are some additional thoughts and speculation about mosquito's: It is only the female that bites so that she can propagate the species. Researches have found that when possible, they will bite the feet over any other part of the body. So, in some other countries they have used dirty socks with some success as bait. My speculation is that there is a concentration of octenol, another favorite attractant in the socks. Good hunting...

5 Comments
Anna
3/20/2015 06:09:08 pm

Seriously? No comments?! And worse yet, no follow up from you! Did this work? If so, I'd sure love to know!

Reply
Ken
3/21/2015 02:18:51 am

Hi Anna,
I mentioned in the writeup that it works well for all types of flies and I continue to use these traps. The mosquito bait is only marginally successful and is less effective. As far as follow-ups, I respond to comments and the general interest level. If there are no comments I have to conclude that there is either no interest or that the post is clear and there is no need for comment. I wish that there was more feedback as I unable to read minds, but I always complete experiments. But if there is no interest there is no follow up. This site is a labor of love with no advertising and no distractions. There are some posts with comments in the hundreds, and some like this one with none. I just do the best that I can and appreciate your comment and thoughts. Ken.

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Barbara
10/18/2016 09:59:32 pm

Just discovered your blog. It's terrific. Thanks for this idea of getting rid of fruit flies and mosquitoes – both very pesky.
The real problem in my life is clothes moths. Do you have any ideas of ridding the clothes moths from my closets and my life? Other than using mothballs, that is.

Reply
Ken
10/19/2016 03:37:45 pm

Hi Barbara,
Moths can be a real problem and if you search my site for "moth" you will see that my problem was with almond moths that come in the house in products like flour and pasta. But, back to your problem. Moth balls as you mentioned are a poor solution but there are other ones that are better. First, it would be helpful ti identify the critters to see if you have a strange one. Just compare with images on Google. But in reality there are typically only two types and they are both susceptible to being trapped. The best traps are the pheromone type which are sex attractants and they lure the male and they get stuck on the sticky part of the trap. No sex, no moths! These are available at most hardware stores. However, the closets need to be checked and cleaned of the existing moths.I have included a website with extensive information that you can copy and paste. Scroll down to the section on trapping. Good luck, Ken.
http://ipm.ucanr.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn7435.html

Reply
Martha
12/24/2016 08:51:53 am

These kinds of traps work exceptionally well for ants and wasps, even if they're outside the house, hanging or free-standing on a porch. And one trap will also trap both ants and wasps. I've never used a recipe, using sugar, but have tried an inch or so of ANY kool-aid or pop that is not sugar-free. We had both wasps and ants trying to take over a hummingbird feeder, but once we gave them their own feeder, the hummers came right back.

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