# Feeder insect trap



## Feebo (May 5, 2010)

Hey guys and girls  I`ve got some Jewelled Flower Mantids coming tomorrow. I`ve got plenty of fruit flies already, they`re nymphs so they`ll be ok on those for a bit. As they get bigger and need bigger food though, I plan to catch thier food for them. Aswell as hand catching it, I thought I`d make a few traps to put out at night. Can anyone suggest any designs? I thought maybe something involving light, as that`s going to have the quickest results. At the moment i`m just thinking a light source in a jar with a funnel so they can`t get out.......


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## hibiscusmile (May 5, 2010)

That sounds good to me, I go out at night and just catch with cups, I am no good at traping them.


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## Rick (May 6, 2010)

It can be alot of work. I just ran out of food so I guess I have no choice but to catch something.


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## hibiscusmile (May 6, 2010)

haha, I have plenty! But jokes on me, it is either feast or famin here!


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## Feebo (May 6, 2010)

Well I guess i`ll let you know how my design works once I`ve made it then. Sounds like a good thread...


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## swords (May 6, 2010)

So... it's safe to catch bugs at night with a net? I've always avoided this for fear of feeding my critters sick bugs or bugs that may have eaten nasty stuff. Has anyone ever lost mantids (spiders, lizards, etc) from feeding wild caught insect food? It would be nice to vary all my critters diets.


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## Woodbox (May 8, 2010)

I use a fly motel for flys. Add something gross. You will lose a bunch when you open it. I open it in my screened porch and re catch what gets away.





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## MantidLord (May 8, 2010)

I've lost five pregnant Iris oratoria do feeding them pesticide infected crickets that I caught. My mom forgot to tell people came and sprayed. Worst thing ever, vomiting black liquid. Be careful.


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## hibiscusmile (May 8, 2010)

Put your fly house in a bag and set inside fridge for a couple minutes, it will knoc k them down so u dont loose to many, until they warm up that is.


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## PhilinYuma (May 8, 2010)

Double post.


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## PhilinYuma (May 8, 2010)

swords said:


> So... it's safe to catch bugs at night with a net? I've always avoided this for fear of feeding my critters sick bugs or bugs that may have eaten nasty stuff. Has anyone ever lost mantids (spiders, lizards, etc) from feeding wild caught insect food? It would be nice to vary all my critters diets.


Most insects flying around at night, beetles, moths, even mantids, are guys looking for girls. If they are healthy enough to have sex on their minds, they are most probably fine. I would guess that poor mantidlord's crickets self selected for capture because they were sick and less agile than healthy crix.

I collect bees from a bunch of fairy duster bushes by a local church. Some of the members have given me hostile looks or even commented on the fact that I am reducing the number of valuable honey bees (I don't think that they care about the bees _qua_ bees, just the honey). What they don't know, or don't care about, is that when the pest control guys come by and spray the outside base of the walls, they also spray the adjacent plants in case there are nasty critters hiding there, ready to attack when they leave. So, yes, it's a good idea to have an idea about the area that you are collecting from.


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## swords (May 13, 2010)

Thanks for the input on this! They do spray the yards in my neighborhood at least once a year with chem lawn, they notify us and put up flags and always keep my cats in the house that week, much to their dismay! LOL

But other than that, behind my house is 10 miles of forested bike trails interspersed with neighborhoods.


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## RyoKenzaki (May 13, 2010)

Try torching a bright light on a large piece of white clothes, u will find various flying insect hooking on it the next morning


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## Feebo (May 13, 2010)

What I did in the end was to get a jam jar, put some banana and peelings and stuff in it, peirce the lid and then leave it in the garden. That was four days ago and they`re both now full of little fruit fly looking things. Not that I`ll be using them unless I run out of wee crickets lol I bought a culture of fruit flies too, what a nightmare that was! lol I see no way at al of transporting those to where I need them without them just going everywhere! lol Think I`ll stick with bought stuff where I can.....


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## Mr.Mantid (May 15, 2010)

I forget but wasn't there a topic about cutting a plastic pop bottle and reversing the top so that it makes a funnel to catch bugs with?


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## Woodbox (May 16, 2010)

PhilinYuma said:


> Most insects flying around at night, beetles, moths, even mantids, are guys looking for girls. If they are healthy enough to have sex on their minds, they are most probably fine. I would guess that poor mantidlord's crickets self selected for capture because they were sick and less agile than healthy crix.
> 
> I collect bees from a bunch of fairy duster bushes by a local church. Some of the members have given me hostile looks or even commented on the fact that I am reducing the number of valuable honey bees (I don't think that they care about the bees _qua_ bees, just the honey). What they don't know, or don't care about, is that when the pest control guys come by and spray the outside base of the walls, they also spray the adjacent plants in case there are nasty critters hiding there, ready to attack when they leave. So, yes, it's a good idea to have an idea about the area that you are collecting from.


I watched a show on bees. When they hatch, their jobs are nursery care, hive upkeep, construction, and then cooling/guarding at the front. They have a predetermined number of wing flaps. Kind of like a countdown on life so that by the time they are out and about getting nectar, they are over the hill so to speak. They also said bees only loose their stingers when stinging an animal with elastic skin. Mammels, birds, some reptiles. Otherwise, they do NOT loose their stinger and die and can sting repeatedly. I thought that was neat. I didnt know that. Evolutionary response to predation from mammels.


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## hibiscusmile (May 16, 2010)

Humm, don't waste those fruit flies, they are good protein for you if nothing else


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## Mex_Ghost (May 17, 2010)

I made a flie trap, I put some meat inside and after two or three day there were flies inside the trap, about 6 or 8 flies eache day, but I could recollect them for 2 or 3 days, then the flies didn´t get inside the trap, but I saw maggots inside the trap and thanks to PhilinYuma I could get some pupaes and then Flies.

The trap I made was like the next figure






some weeks after I used the trap again, but in that time besides flies a lizard felt inside the trap and it couldn´t get out.

So I can suggest to hang up the trap some inches above the ground if you want to make one like this one.

saludos


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## hibiscusmile (May 17, 2010)

Looks good, poor lizzy!


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## Mr.Mantid (May 23, 2010)

Mexxico Ghost said:


> I made a flie trap, I put some meat inside and after two or three day there were flies inside the trap, about 6 or 8 flies eache day, but I could recollect them for 2 or 3 days, then the flies didn´t get inside the trap, but I saw maggots inside the trap and thanks to PhilinYuma I could get some pupaes and then Flies.
> 
> The trap I made was like the next figure
> 
> ...


Awesome looks good! Do you ever get wasps that fly in their too? I think I'll be trying this out this summer


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## Mex_Ghost (Jun 2, 2010)

I only trapped some flies no wasps, but I saw some in a lemon tree, but never tried to catch them.


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## Mex_Ghost (Jun 2, 2010)

I did other trap that I found on the web also with meat inside, It looks like






The bottom of the bottle was black, so flies tend to go to the light (the top).

saludos


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