Biting fly traps?

[Simkie]

The big biting flies are bananas this year. Does anyone have experience with the various biting fly traps? They’re all such an investment, and it’s tough to pull the trigger.

H Trap: https://horse-fly-trap.com/

Horse Pal: https://www.bitingflies.com/

Black Widow: https://www.bwhorseflycatcher.com/

Nzi: https://www.rinconvitova.com/fly%20trap%20nzi.htm

Fly Cage: https://bitingflytrap.com/products/fly-cage-horse-fly-greenheads-deer-fly-trap

Also various kits like this? Which are at least pretty inexpensive but having a bunch of very sticky balls hanging around seems like something other types of animals could get caught in? https://www.amazon.com/Ball-Odorless-Eco-Friendly-Pesticides-Electricity/dp/B08JZH5K14

[trubandloki]

greenhead-howto.pdf

We built something like this and it has worked amazing.

We did add a hanging black ball under it. I am not sure if that actually attracts more biting flies or not, but the whole thing does a great job and was quite inexpensive to build.

We do not have any lure inside it either. Just the box with the ball under it.

[SusanO]

From what I read - greenheads need a moving sticky target ball that is colored blue. And the big stableflies go after large black objects. Since I could never get any appreciable amount of either fly on my blue ball or my black ball I did not invest in the more expensive traps. I do think the location of the traps has a lot to do with attraction. If I was capable I might try to build one but based on prior performance I don’t think I could do that successfully.

[Simkie]

@trubandloki

We built something like this and it has worked amazing.

Oh, interesting! It’s kind of like the horse pal? How do you keep it from blowing over (or away all together?)

@SusanO it is definitely hard to drop the $$$ on something like this without knowing how it’ll work. I think we have mostly deer flies and maybe yellow flies, but have seen plenty of the bigger horse flies around. Usually the biting flies aren’t a big deal here, but I think the wet, hot weather agrees with them

[Libby2563]

I made this one: http://thesmallhorsefarm.blogspot.com/2016/07/biting-fly-trap.html?m=1

It works super well for greenheads and a little less well for the horseflies.

[Simkie]

Nice, that looks similar ish to trub’s trap? The instruction link on your blog page is dead (not super surprised, it’s been awhile!) Is there a lure in there at all, or does the structure of the trap itself pull enough in?

Good to know it works. Anything to knock out some of these biting jerks.

[trubandloki]

@Simkie

interesting! It’s kind of like the horse pal? How do you keep it from blowing over (or away all together?)

Generally speaking, it did not do either, and we have quite a bit of wind here.

The periodic storm did topple it though.

I would think a tent stake on a couple of legs would make it even more stable.

I refuse to put something that big and sticky, like some of the things I saw. I do not want to catch birds.

[trubandloki]

This is how ours started. But the containers on the top were not cooperating. Mr. Trub modified to be like the link I posted and added the big floating black ball underneath and it did a great job.

(It is down for repairs right now, or I would show you all the bugs in it. A piece of wood rotted and it is waiting for its place on the job list to be fixed.)

[Simkie]

@trubandloki

Generally speaking, it did not do either, and we have quite a bit of wind here.

Oh fab, I thought it might be likely to go over–nice to know it does not! How do you get the dead flies out of it?

We don’t have full sheets of spare plywood…but I DO have plexi and looking at the black widow trap, I can bang that together for less than ten bucks. So I think I’ll start there and see how it goes. The box trap will be next up. Thanks very much for the idea and link, even with the cost of plywood it’s still a ton less than the ready made solutions.

Here are the step by step construction details (the “backside” mentioned on the doc linked above) if anyone else is interested in putting one together.

greenhead-step-by-step.pdf

[trubandloki]

@Simkie

How do you get the dead flies out of it?

Grossness warning.

We don’t.

By the next spring they have mostly deteriorated enough to that the bits fall out when the box is put out for the season.

The dead bugs build up at the bottom, so out of the way of the incoming bugs.

[Simkie]

@trubandloki

Grossness warning.

We don’t.

HAHA, that’s awesome. I get it, it looks hard to get them out of there. Was thinking it might make sense to hinge the interior screens somehow so they can open at the bottom.

[trubandloki]

@Simkie

@trubandloki

Grossness warning.

We don’t.

HAHA, that’s awesome. I get it, it looks hard to get them out of there. Was thinking it might make sense to hinge the interior screens somehow so they can open at the bottom.

Sometimes we will just undo a few screws and clean it out. But that is usually because someone decides they don’t want all those bodies wherever it is being stored for the winter.

There is so much room in there, that it never is really a problem.

[Simkie]

Oh geez, winter storage, I hadn’t even thought about that. Space is such an issue here, especially since we keep collecting more tractor implements. Hmmm, maybe it can go together in a way where it’ll fold flat for storage. I’ll have to think through that!

[trubandloki]

The last few years it has been stored next to a shed, laid on its side so it is less likely to fall over in a winter storm and snow does not pile on the screen shot.

This might be why some of the wood needed replacing this year.

When it was first built, it was brought into the basement for the winter.

I don’t think you have to do too much special to store it.

[Libby2563]

@Simkie

Is there a lure in there at all, or does the structure of the trap itself pull enough in?

No lure! My understanding is that greenheads and horseflies hunt by sight, not scent, which is why fly spray is futile. Actually last summer the ball fell off and I kept catching them anyway so I didn’t bother to put it up again. In the spring I usually get new clamshells from the grocery store salad bar.

If you don’t catch much at first, try moving it. Even a difference of only 50 feet in its location can affect how much I catch.

[danacat]

I bought two Horse Pals near the end of June. Certainly an investment! I didn’t know what to expect – but I have to say they REALLY REALLY work.

Started catching greenheads and the smaller horseflies right away – 8 to 10 a day in each trap. Unfortunately the trap isn’t advertised as a big bomber catcher so I wasn’t hopeful – but what a glorious surprise! This trap does attract and catch them too. Six in the last two weeks. Not a lot but I’ll take it!

Pull the trigger. I think you’ll be happy with the Horse Pal. I’m going to invest in a third one next summer.

We’ve had a couple of very bad storms + wind and the things stayed put.

[Simkie]

Hey @danacat how the heck are you?? Haven’t seen you around in awhile! That fab that the horse pals are working so well for you, it’s such a big investment! Did you consider any of the build your own options? What made you go with the ready made one?

@Libby2563 I thought the same on the lure front but so many papers are comparing ocatanol and CO2 (they seem to use dry ice?) and no lure. It’s all a bit much to wade through tbh! That’s great to hear you’re also not using a lure and still have success. Having to manage a lure just seems like it would add to the hassle of it all.

@trubandloki yeah I can see that it wouldn’t be complex to store but we just are so short on protected or even semi protected storage. We really need another building. If I can put it together in a way where it’ll flatten, that’ll help!

[danacat]

Hey @Simkie ! I’ve just been really busy with all kinds of stuff (some good, some not so good) + a new horse I got 2 years ago (starting him from scratch which isn’t easy at my age LOL!) and thus I haven’t been spending much time online (lurked a bit tho

Anyhoo…I got the ready made ones because the reviews were pretty good - but more importantly, the biters and bombers came out in full force - completely insane this year – bombers in early July? Unheard of! So I needed instant gratification!

Caught two more bombers this morning.

[Simkie]

Got the black widow style trap put together today. My cost was about 20 bucks for the black tub, and we had the rest of this stuff lying around. (Hooray for keeping random building materials stacked up )

We’ll see how it goes, but this is an area with a shit ton of deer flies when I ride in the morning, and they sure seem to come out of the forest at us, so hopefully it’s in a good position & will help.

@danacat I totally feel you on how bad they’ve been this year! Wow, I’ve never seen it like this before. Glad your traps are working so well! How satisfying to see them dead

[Pico_Banana]

You guys inspired me to get my trap out of the hay loft and fix it. I have the Loer one (similar to the H trap) but stupidly left it out in a windstorm a few years ago and a couple inches of the skirt ripped off at the bottom. So this weekend I put on my MacGyver hat and figured out how to fix it. I reinforced the bottom of what was left of the skirt, added grommets, and then zip-tied the skirt to the hoop.

Original

New and improved model

I am not very handy so am feeling very proud of myself.