Easy way to get flies out of a funnel trap?

[ANTdrew]

I made a funnel trap with an old water bottle and some canned cat food. Does anyone have an easy way to harvest the flies out of the trap?

 

[ANTdrew]

Would a design like this work?

 

[Synapze]

I made a funnel trap with an old water bottle and some canned cat food. Does anyone have an easy way to harvest the flies out of the trap?

Way back when I was doing this I would place the trap in a clean bag and put them in the freezer for several minutes before dumping out the stunned flies. I'd pick the best flies and toss out the small flies... unless I needed them to feed young nymphs. It worked for me, but I no longer use wild captured prey due to health concerns.

It always worked for me.

 

[Introvertebrate]

Other than freezing, the only other option I can think of would be a separate exit. One that's ordinarily plugged with foam or something. It would have to be up high, to take advantage of their desire to climb.

 

[ANTdrew]

Raccoons stole my first trap. The second one I made with pantyhose separating the trap chamber from the bait is not attracting anything but ants. Ughhh

 

[Introvertebrate]

I once made a similar trap, and then it occurred to me that maybe I should have formed the funnel out of screen material. You want to maximize the amount of nasty smell that gets out into the world.

 

[ANTdrew]

Yeah, I think the pantyhose is blocking odors.

 

[Introvertebrate]

Yeah, I think the pantyhose is blocking odors.

But the pantyhose is porous. My thinking is that the smell only emanates from the relatively small hole at the narrow end of the funnel. If the funnel was made of something porous like screen, the smell would emanate from the entire top of the trap. Inverting the whole think might help as well, since flies instinctively climb up. If you've got $5 to spare:

https://www.amazon.com/%F0%9D%96%B3%F0%9D%97%8B%F0%9D%96%BA%F0%9D%97%89-Reusable-%F0%9D%96%B3%F0%9D%97%8B%F0%9D%96%BA%F0%9D%97%89-Efficient-Environmentally/dp/B0CB17X8L6/ref=sr_1_4?keywords=ranch+fly+trap&qid=1689963397&s=lawn-garden&sr=1-4

 

[ANTdrew]

I can answer my own question now. I figured out the easiest way to get them out. We put a clear bag over the trap while my boy holds down the edges of the bag. When I lift the funnel, they all fly up into the bag. Then I chill them.