Commercial and Homemade Fly Traps

Most fly traps are specific to a certain species of fly. For example, those that use smelly bait are designed to attract houseflies. In contrast, stable flies are drawn to a horse’s physical shape and odor. These pests are best caught with traps specific to them—visual cues rather than smelly bait as attractant.

Homemade Fly Traps

Of all the things you can make to help with your stable management, a homemade fly trap couldn’t be simpler or more cost effective.

Here are the items you need:

A 2-liter empty plastic bottle or juice jug (can be smaller)
Scissors or matte knife
String
Bait—rotting fruit or vegetables, sugar water, honey, horse manure
A bit of soapy water

Cut the bottle in two, making the cut about 1/4 to 1/3 of the way down from the top so that the bottom part is longer than the top part. You can discard the cap or cut a large fly-sized hole in it and leave it on. This is where the flies enter.

Place the bait and a couple of inches of soapy water in the bottom of the bottle.

Turn the top section of the bottle upside down and insert into the bottom portion. Tape the two pieces together.

Lo and behold, you have a perfect fly trap!

(Editor’s note: I did this with a water bottle in my kitchen. Probably should have more sugar water in the bottom!)

A couple of holes punched into the top of the unit, a string, and it’s ready to hang in a sunny spot, low to the ground. Locate the trap close to fly breeding sites because they will attract flies.

The flies fly into the funnel to the bait but can’t find a way back out. They generally falling into the water in their attempts to get out.

Once full and/or too smelly to be tolerated, discard that container and begin anew.

(Editor’s note: There are many YouTube videos about how to make homemade fly traps. Here is an example.)

Biting Fly Homemade Trap

Oklahoma State University Extension showed a homemade horse fly and deer fly trap for cattle that would work for horses.

Research showed that blue cylinders (inverted cups, for example) coated with sticky material and attached to slow-moving (<7 mph) objects (e.g., the front of a truck or ATV) are effective at reducing the abundance of these flies.

Commercial Fly Traps

One commercial fly trap is the Spalding Bite Free Stable Fly Trap. The company notes: “This trap modifies light coming through the special translucent material and causes a Stable Fly to see a ‘shimmering’ image like a mirage on a hot day. That combined with a black top and bottom fools the Stable Fly into thinking it’s a warm animal and that means there’s blood there. Place this trap in the sunlight so light will shine through it. Biting Stable Flies bite animals on the legs and flanks, so place it at about the same height between 2 and 3 feet off the ground, no higher than 4 feet.”

Another biting fly trap is the Starbar Bite Free Stable Fly Trap. It is also based on sticky paper trapping surfaces. The company notes: “Scientifically proven to attract and kill disease-carrying stable flies without insecticides, so they’re safe to use around stables, cattle barns, poultry farms, kennels, restaurants or homes and gardens.”

Some commercial fly traps use poison, such as imidacloprid, in a sugar base. Insecticidal chemicals kill other invertebrates such as predator wasps, bees, and ladybugs as well as being toxic to children, pets, and chickens, for example. Be cautious when using any insecticides.

Fly traps are an adjunct to insect control; they are not the primary strategy. Your property is best served if you place them throughout, at no more than 50-100 foot intervals. Most fly traps work best when placed low to the ground, less than four feet high.

Integrated Pest Management

Fly traps for various species are good to use as part of an integrated fly management program. Important parts of that program are removal of manure and wet hay or feed.

Not giving flies a place to breed is a great way to reduce fly populations.

Some properties use fly predators. These are tiny wasps that lay their eggs in fly larvae, thus killing them before they hatch. The fly predators don’t sting or bother horses or humans.