Inexpensive trap for capturing house flies (Diptera: Muscidae) in manure pits of caged-layer poultry houses

An economical and easily constructed trap that captures large numbers of house flies, Musca domestica L., in dark interior areas such as the manure pits beneath high-rise, caged-layer poultry houses was devised. The trap is a Hodge-type trap with a single 40-W blacklight fluorescent bulb and a reflector. Over a 30-d period, three traps hung in the manure pit of a layer house that had a calculated daily fly population of 1,134,000 flies. Each trap averaged 10,500 flies (1% of the population) per day. The traps required cleaning only once every 30 d.