House flies are more than just a nuisance; they pose a significant health risk by carrying and transmitting numerous disease-causing organisms. Walking across food, they can easily contaminate surfaces and lead to potential health issues. While chemical pesticides present risks, especially around food preparation and storage areas, traditional fly traps often fall short, particularly indoors. However, a groundbreaking solution has emerged from the Agricultural Research Service (ARS): the “Flybrella” trap, designed to effectively attract, kill, and contain house flies in a safe and efficient manner.
The Problem with House Flies: Health Hazards
House flies are notorious for their ability to spread diseases. Their feeding and breeding habits expose them to various pathogens, which they can then transfer to human environments. Controlling these pests, especially in places where food is handled, is crucial for maintaining hygiene and preventing the spread of illness. Traditional methods often involve chemical sprays, which are undesirable in sensitive areas, or less effective traps that don’t fully address the problem.
Introducing Flybrella: A Novel Solution
Scientists Jerome A. Hogsette and David A. Carlson at the ARS Center for Medical, Agricultural and Veterinary Entomology in Gainesville, Florida, have developed an innovative trap to combat house flies effectively indoors. This trap, playfully named “Flybrella” by Carlson due to its umbrella-like shape, offers a promising alternative for fly control. Beyond house flies, Flybrella is also capable of capturing other flying insects, making it a versatile pest management tool.
How Flybrella Works: Science-Backed Fly Control
Flybrella leverages the natural behaviors of house flies to lure and eliminate them. It capitalizes on flies’ attraction to specific chemical odors and their tendency to gravitate towards vertically hanging objects. Once inside the trap, flies are exposed to a poisonous bait. After consuming the bait, the dying flies fall into a contained tube and an inverted plastic cone located at the bottom of the trap. This design not only kills the flies but also neatly contains their bodies, keeping them out of sight and preventing further contamination.
Key Features of Flybrella
The Flybrella trap is composed of several key components:
- Removable Cylindrical Body: This forms the main structure of the trap.
- Toxicant Panel: This panel contains the poisonous bait that attracts and kills flies.
- Insect Collector: The inverted cone and tube system collects and retains the dead flies.
Designed for indoor use, Flybrella is hung using a hook or ties attached to vertical surfaces like electrical cables, typically around six feet above the floor. This placement optimizes its effectiveness in areas frequented by house flies.
Benefits of Flybrella
Laboratory tests have demonstrated the remarkable effectiveness of Flybrella. In controlled studies, two Flybrella traps successfully captured 98 percent of released flies. This high capture rate highlights its potential as a powerful tool for house fly control. Furthermore, Flybrella offers several key advantages:
- High Efficacy: Proven to capture a large percentage of house flies.
- Safe for Indoor Use: Minimizes the risks associated with chemical sprays, especially in food-related environments.
- Cost-Effective: Designed to be inexpensive to produce, making it an accessible solution.
- Contains Dead Flies: Hygienically contains dead insects, preventing them from being visible and reducing secondary contamination risks.
- Utilizes Proven Toxicant: Flybrella incorporates the QuickStrike toxicant strip, a product Hogsette helped develop, known for its success in agricultural fly control. QuickStrike includes Muscalure, a potent sex attractant discovered by Carlson, which is widely used in commercial fly baits to enhance their appeal to flies.
Potential Applications
The Flybrella trap is ideally suited for a variety of indoor environments where house flies are a concern, particularly locations where food is stored, prepared, or sold. This includes:
- Supermarkets: Protecting fresh produce, meat, and other food items from fly contamination.
- Restaurants: Maintaining hygienic dining and kitchen areas.
- Food Stores: Ensuring a clean and pest-free environment for customers and products.
- Homes: Providing effective and safe fly control in residential kitchens and living spaces.
Conclusion
The Flybrella trap represents a significant advancement in house fly control. Developed by leading ARS scientists, it offers a science-backed, effective, and safe method for eliminating these troublesome and potentially hazardous pests. Its innovative design, utilizing attractants and a contained killing system, makes it superior to many traditional fly control methods, especially for indoor use in sensitive environments. With a patent application filed by ARS, the Flybrella trap holds great promise for commercialization, offering a valuable tool for businesses and homeowners seeking a better way to manage house flies. This invention underscores the ongoing efforts to develop innovative and sustainable solutions for pest management, prioritizing both effectiveness and safety.
