Flytraps and Their Operation [1930]

U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE FARMERS' BULLETIN No. 734 FLYTRAPS AND THEIR OPERATION

BOTH THE HOUSE FLY AND BLOWFLIES may be captured in traps. The character of the bait used and the location of the traps greatly influence the kind of flies caught. This bulletin tells how to make the flytraps that have been found most effective, where to put them, and how to bait and care for them.
Flytrapping, of course, affords only partial relief. The logical method of fly control is to prevent the multiplication of these pests by proper disposal of or treatment of their breeding places. The reader is therefore referred to Farmers' Bulletin 1408 for further information on house-fly control, to Farmers' Bulletin 1097 for various methods of combating the stable fly, and to Farmers' Bulletin 857 for additional measures to be used against the screw-worm fly and certain other blowflies injurious to livestock.
ADDITIONAL COPIES OF THIS PUBLICATION MAY BE PROCURED FROM THE SUPERINTENDENT OF DOCUMENTS U. S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE WASHINGTON, D. C. AT 5 CENTS PER COPY

By F. C. Bishopp, Principal Entomologist in Charge, Division of Insects Affecting Man and Animals, Bureau of Entomology
FLYTRAPS have a distinct place in the control of the house fly and other noxious fly species. There is a general tendency, however, for those engaged in combating flies to put too much dependence on the flytrap as a method of abating the nuisance. It should be borne in mind that flytrapping is only supplementary to other methods of control, most notable of which is the prevention of breeding either by completely disposing of breeding places or by treating the breeding material with chemicals.
It may be said that there are two main ways in which flytraps are valuable: (1) By catching flies which come to clean premises from other places which are insanitary and (2) by capturing those flies which invariably escape in greater or less numbers the other means of destruction which may be practiced. Furthermore, the number of flies caught in traps serves as an index of the effectiveness of campaigns against breeding places.