4 Easy Ways to Make a DIY Fly Trap
House flies are annoying, unsanitary, and wholeheartedly unwelcome. Getting rid of the eggs, larva and pupa will require investigation and cleaning up decaying material.
Flies like wet organic matter. Use your nose to find and remove sites of wet organic matter in and around your home. This means cleaning your garbage disposal (rarely done by homeowners – look for Plink brand cleaner at your market), cleaning trash receptacles, making sure household drains are flowing and clean, and keeping decaying organic matter outside controlled. Flies can smell a food source from up to a mile away. “Since the dawn of man, flies have been the bane of his existence,” famed entomologist Stoy Hedges accurately noted.
The adult flies you see and will catch with these traps are a symptom of the larger problem of wet organic matter that allows flies to complete their life cycle. The fly life cycle is complete metamorphosis. That means the adult female fly lays her eggs in wet organic matter. These eggs hatch to larva, often called maggots, that feed on the wet organic matter. This larva grows until it is ready to build a pupa casing. Inside the pupa casing the flies pupate and emerge completely different – as an adult fly with wings.
You can make these fly traps, BUT they will only capture adults. The population will exist until the wet organic matter is eliminated. In this blog, we provide four easy methods for creating your own DIY fly trap, including:
- The Soda Bottle Fly Trap
- The Tin Can Fly Trap
- The Glass Jar Fly Trap
- The Sticky Paper Fly Trap
The Soda Bottle Fly Trap
What you’ll need to get started: An empty soda bottle, scissors, tape, stapler, sugar, water, a pot, and white vinegar.
Step 1: Create Your Trap
To assemble your fly trap, first remove the top 1/3 of your empty soda bottle. Once removed, flip the cut piece over and use tape to stick it to the bottom half of the bottle. Join the two edges of the bottle parts together by stapling around the bottle.
Step 2: Create Your Bait
Create a sugar mixture by placing five tablespoons of sugar into a pot, flattening evenly across the bottom. Pour in enough water to cover the top of the sugar, gradually heating the mixture until it comes to a boil and stirring well. Once fully dissolved, set the mixture aside to cool.
Separately, combine a few tablespoons of sugar with a cup of water. Set the mixture aside and proceed to step three.
Step 3: Set Your Trap
Pour or spoon the syrup into the funnel of your bottle trap, dripping the mixture down the edges of the funnel to create a sticky trap for flies. Then, pour in the sugar water mixture through the funnel as well. Add in a few teaspoons of white vinegar before placing the trap in a sunny area to attract house flies.
Flies love heat and carbon dioxide, so repeatedly breathe into the bottle from time to time to improve your chances of attracting them to your trap. After you’ve caught your unwanted guests, discard them and reuse your trap as many times as needed.
The Tin Can Fly Trap
What you’ll need to get started: A tin can, duct tape, and a small UV flashlight.
Step 1: Create Your Trap
Find a tin can to use as your trap. This can be either a dog food can, soup can, or similarly sized can. Make sure to remove the label and the can lid, washing and drying thoroughly.
Next, cut out a few pieces of duct tape. The pieces should be long enough to wrap around the entire can. Be careful not to get the pieces dirty or to touch the sticky ends to anything other than the can or the trap will not work properly. Once the can is covered, rub the tape gently to transfer the stickiness of the adhesive onto the can.
Remove the duct tape from the can, touching the surface to test its stickiness. If the can is not sticky to the touch, repeat the process of covering, rubbing, and removing until the can is sticky.
Step 2: Create Your Bait
Take your small UV flashlight and tape it to the bottom of the inside of your tin can. It’s important to use a UV flashlight for this type of trap because flies are most attracted to UV light.
Step 3: Set Your Trap
Turn the flashlight on and place the can outside at night to attract flies to the light source. When they come to see the light up close, they’ll land on the can and get stuck from the duct tape residue. After you’ve caught flies with the can, you can wash the dead flies off and reuse the trap by repeating the steps above.
The Glass Jar Fly Trap
What you’ll need to get started: A small glass or plastic container, apple cider vinegar, dish soap, fruit or raw meat, plastic wrap, a rubber band, and a steak knife.
Step 1: Create Your Trap
Grab a small glass or plastic container to get started. This can be an empty jelly jar or a Tupperware container. If the jar has a lid, remove it before moving on to creating your bait.
Step 2: Create Your Bait
Take the apple cider vinegar and pour about an inch of it into the container to attract the flies. Add in a few drops of dish soap and mix together gently so that the flies won’t be able to stand on the vinegar and drink it. Next, chop up either the fruit or raw meat you selected as your bait and pour into the vinegar and dish soap mixture.
Step 3: Set Your Trap
Cover the top of the container in plastic wrap, securing in place with a rubber band. Poke a small hole through the plastic wrap using a steak knife and place the trap outside to attract flies. The flies will be able to get in easily through the slit you created but won’t be able to escape as easily.
While many of the flies will have died inside the trap, it’s likely that some of them will still be dining on your bait when you return. If this is the case, take the trap to the nearest sink and turn on the hot water. Make sure the drain stopper is down so the basin fills. Once filled, place the container in the sink for 10 minutes to drown the flies.
The Sticky Paper Fly Trap
What you’ll need to get started: A paper bag, scissors, a toothpick, some string, sugar, honey, water, a saucepan, and a baking sheet.
Step 1: Create Your Trap
Take an old grocery store bag or brown paper bag and use a pair of scissors to cut out 1” x 6” strips. You’ll need 4 – 5 strips of paper to set the trap. After you’ve cut them out, lay them flat on the table.
Using your toothpick, poke a hole about 1” from the end of each strip. Cut a piece of string approximately 6” long for each of the strips you created. Place the string through the hole and tie a knot.
Step 2: Create Your Bait
Gather your saucepan, sugar, honey, and water. Put equal parts sugar, honey, and water into the pan and place on a stove on medium-high heat until well combined. After the mixture is combined, allow it to cool.
Step 3: Set Your Trap
Dip each strip of paper into the mixture, coating thoroughly in the syrup. After dipping, place the strips on a baking sheet to dry out. Once dry, hang the strips up around the house. Hanging them closer to one another will increase your chances of catching flies. After they’ve been coated in critters, throw the strips out to get rid of flies.
DIY fly traps not doing the trick? Let GreenHow get rid of the flies in your home once and for all. Contact our team at (617) 964-4733 to request your free fly inspection today!
