The Society for the study of flies (Diptera)

As well as a non-chemical method of domestic fly control, I think that they may be used to monitor horticultural pests in greenhouses.
Anything that lands on them will stick. Flies of all sizes will be caught.
To look under a microscope for identification you would cut out the section with the fly and put on a card. Not ideal for a reference collection, but adequate for pest and general identification.

The person who asked me about them is interested in monitoring Calliphorids and similar sized flies. I think the idea is to place the traps in the open on posts.

brianh wrote:

As well as a non-chemical method of domestic fly control, I think that they may be used to monitor horticultural pests in greenhouses.
Anything that lands on them will stick. Flies of all sizes will be caught.
To look under a microscope for identification you would cut out the section with the fly and put on a card. Not ideal for a reference collection, but adequate for pest and general identification.

I'm not sure I want 300m, but I've just had a look at the site for Mr Sticky and it's an American firm.
I think I need a board, coated on one side - most of the glue traps I've looked at are quiet small ie.  10cm by 14cm and meant for indoor use. The chances of a fly hitting that in the open are quite slim, although they do tend to be yellow or white, which obviously helps.
Thanks for the suggestion.

That looks quite good! It could be cut into lengths and stapled to boards.
Cheers Mark

I have tried using yellow sticky traps for fly collection for conservation monitoring. Very few flies were in good enough state for identification after using solvents to remove them.  Loss of legs, wings, bristles etc. was common.  For larger flies where colour patterns on the body are important (some hoverflies) this may be a reasonable technique, but for muscids, for example, it would be a poor technique, seeing as  bristle orientation on legs is so critical.  My best records using this technique were the beetles as they have tougher bodies - they could be retrieved relatively unharmed.  I found some of my traps positions were regulary having caught insects removed (or at least bodies removed - only legs and wings of flies remaining stuck to the surface) and I suspect birds did this.  If you could check the traps very regularly, you could get to the flies before the birds do.  Also I did not enjoy having to use the solvents necessary!


Anyway, I suggest you do a trial run to see how useful this technique is for the fly groups of interest in the positions requiring fly capture before buying lots of sticky tape.

Judy

I still think that if you are going to use this method then you leave the fly on the trap paper, and just cut it out and card it. I certainly agree that solvents will destroy the fly. For identification there should be enough visible characters.
If sticky traps do not appeal have you considered pan traps. They may be selective, but a wide variety of flies will be trapped.
If you want to intercept them in flight then there may be no alternative to a malaise trap which is expensive and not suitable for public locations.

I think the pan traps are a good idea. I presume that any flies landing on the water would have been passing and got attracted by the colour, whereas baited traps might attract flies from some distance.
Ease of handling seems to be a winner also ie. scoop them out and preserve in alcohol.
I only wanted to know about sticky traps because someone had suggested their use to another person, then asked what I thought. 

brianh wrote:

I still think that if you are going to use this method then you leave the fly on the trap paper, and just cut it out and card it. I certainly agree that solvents will destroy the fly. For identification there should be enough visible characters.
If sticky traps do not appeal have you considered pan traps. They may be selective, but a wide variety of flies will be trapped.
If you want to intercept them in flight then there may be no alternative to a malaise trap which is expensive and not suitable for public locations.

Can I discuss this off group please?
My email address is don.sten@o2.co.uk

Thanks
Don

Hi there,
We are using small 2cmx2cm squares of yellow Agralan sticky traps as part of our sampling strategy to investigate the biodiversity of stone walls. This thread has been very useful. We would be very grateful for some advice regarding preserving the sticky traps. Specimens adhered to both sides of the trap. We kept them in 70% alcohol in ziploc bag but the bags have leaked, and we wondered did anyone have any bright ideas so that we can better preserve them for a few months.


Thanks a million in advance,
Caitriona