THE FLY TRAP AGAINST INFESTATIONS: SFERA TRAP

/ 13 June 2018 / Comments

When and why do we need to place a fly trap? We should know that infestations by flying pests are harmful to gardens, crops and livestocks. The pests may carry diseases infecting plants, animals, and human beings too.

The infestations of flying pests can cause various kinds of damage: while sometimes insects may just be a nuisance (such as the flies that prevent us from enjoying lunch in our garden) other times they can be outright harmful and dangerous. Horseflies, wasps and hornets can bite or sting, causing swelling and pain, or triggering allergies; moreover horsefly bites can cause viral - or even bacterial - diseases, both in humans as well as in domestic and farm animals.

_{Horseflies can carry infectious equine anaemia}_{- Photo: r_gis @Pixaby}

Flies and mosquitoes can contaminate food, water and other surfaces, transmitting pathogenic viruses, bacteria and parasites.

^{Tiger mosquito: aggressive even during the day - Foto: Wikilmages @ Pixaby}

Fruit flies can damage our crops - from gardens to greenhouses - often spreading diseases throughout the entire crops.

HOW TO DEFEND OURSELVES FROM FLYING PESTS INFESTATIONS

Whether it be in farms, orchards or gardens, it is important to use a method of defence against harmful insects that is not invasive with respect to the environment and our health. It is also important that this method can give us continuous and constant protection - night and day - and that it can resolve infestation problems quickly and for good.

Glue traps: Sfera Trap is also active at night

There are various available methods to defend our crops from harmful insects, but only few of them are really effective, both in enclosed and open areas. It is with this problem in mind that Sfera Trap was designed: an ingenious glue trap that maintains its effectiveness day and night, both in external and internal environments.

_{Sfera Trap in a cattle stable: its high rate of capture allows the environment to remain clean from flies,

thus reducing the stress in the domestic animals}

Indeed, Sfera Trap comes with a LED light and, when switched on night and day, uses batteries that last up to one month. The light is an important characteristic of Sfera Trap because a luminous trap is more effective in catching flying pests, particularly in scarcely lit areas, such as in stables.

How does Sfera Trap works against flies

Sfera Trap is a fly trap made of tough plastic material; its yellow colour is extremely attractive to insects; it also comes with a ring to facilitate its hanging.

It is a fly trap that is unique in its kind: it inexorably attracts flying pests both during the day and at night. This is because it comes with a LED light that is powered by batteries. This characteristic allows it to work at night and in poorly lit places as well, thus continuously catching flying pests in places such as stables, milking parlours, kennels and food warehouses.

Sfera Trap consists in two hemispheres; once assembled the sphere needs to be wrapped with a transparent bag or cling film, on which a suitable glue can then be applied. Once the trap is prepared in this way the flying pests are trapped as soon as they land on it. For a demonstration, watch this video (you will find English subtitles available).

_{As a fly trap, Sfera Trap can be used in various contexts and locations where infestation problems have arisen}

Where can we use Sfera Trap against flies

In external locations:

Gardens
Orchards
Vegetable gardens
Communal green areas
Country houses
Camping grounds
Farms
Apiaries (but only with due precautions and only during a specific period of the year)

In internal locations - or in poorly lit environments:

Stalls
Stables
Milking parlours
Kennels
Food warehouses
Grain warehouses
Flowers and crops greenhouses

Which insects can Sfera Trap catch

^{Sfera Trap can be hung in civil and agricultural green areas}

Sfera Trap is ideal for catching all types of flying pests:

Hornets and Wasps: In gardens as well as in orchards, these insects fly around at night too, being a nuisance and damaging the ripe fruits on trees.
Common flies, mosquitoes, horseflies and stable flies: These insects are notoriously attracted by light and by the color yellow, even in internal or/and poorly lit areas such as stables, milking parlours, kennels. Outdoors, they abounds in campsites, swimming pools, picnic areas, and so on.
Moths and fruit flies: These parasites damage our fruit plants and infest food warehouses.

Bedbugs (cimicidaes) and hornets

Particular attention should be paid to the capture of Asian bedbugs and Asian hornets (Vespa crabro and Vespa velutina):

Bedbugs and Asian bedbugs: to capture these pests in gardens and greenhouses an additional pheromone bait should be applied to Sfera Trap, because for these harmful insects the attractant of light and of yellow is not sufficient.

_{In recent years bedbugs (cimicidaes) have become the scourge of agriculture}

_{- Photo: brown bedbugs Brwtt_Hondow @ Pixaby}

Vespa velutina and Vespa Crabro in apiaries: In summer Sfera Trap can be used without the LED light as a protein trap against Vespa velutina; used in this way it will protect our bees from this voracious predator. We must position Sfera Trap within the apiary and between beehives (but never in front of them). However, we should use special precautions when doing that. You can learn more about the capture of Vespa velutina here.

_{In summer and with particular precautions, Sfera Trap can be used inside apiaries to capture wasps and hornets

(and Vespa velutina - see photo)}

Sfera Trap should never be used on plants in bloom because pollinating insects could remain trapped too

THE CHARACTERISTICS OF SFERA TRAP AS A FLY TRAP

Here is what makes Sfera Trap one of a kind:

It is a plastic fly trap of intense yellow color. This color is known to attract insects meters away, even when the tree on which the trap is hung has no leaves.
It comes with a ring for facilitating its hanging and it can be left on trees or other supports until the end of season and beyond - so as to catch the last insects.
It is reusable for many seasons: when the trap is covered with dead insects it is sufficient to replace the film around it, as shown in this video guide (you will find English subtitles available):

Its internal LED luminaire is powered by two AA batteries, which last about a month when the light is left on day and night - to guarantee a constant capture of flying pests.
It gives you the choice of several different suitable plastic covers: a transparent bag, cling film, or even two transparent shower caps (like those found in hotels.)
It allows for the use of different types of glue: brushable glue, tube glue (such as mice glue) or spray. The latter is more practical because it can be easily re-applied without having to change the plastic cover, as for instance when the glue lost its efficacy even though the trap has not yet captured many flying pests.
The sphere itself does not get dirty: when its cover is full of insects, it is sufficient to dispose of it and replace it with a new one.
The evenly spaced holes of Sfera Trap allow for a better diffusion of light. Moreover, the holes come in handy when assembling the two hemispheres.

_{Both hemispheres are equipped with the housing for the LED light;

we can therefore choose whether to insert it into the upper or lower part of the trap}