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How do you guys catch flys?

  • Thread starter kendogg
  • Start date
I find it time consuming to go outside swatting at unsuspecting flys with a bundled newspaper as my choice of weapon.  Just wondering if there is a more convenient way to catch these suckers (possibly in bulk).
 
I suggest that you place a large number of VFT's outside. When the flies swarm to them you can then catch them before the plants do. What on earth do you want them for?
 
Well, I have had good luck catching large numbers of flies after picking up doggy waste in our yard. Just put it all in a bag and wait. Usually this works best on a nice warm day. I usually use this method to attract large numbers of flies to my plants. After the flies have gathered around the plants, I removed the bags and let the plants take over.

Yes, it is kinda gross.
 
I feed vfts with bees - plenty of them. Just use the pincers and pull em out of a flower. The digested carcasses actually attract flies and the vfts get a bonus.

I also stuff the s.purpurea full of bees and what ever insects I can find. The smell of rot attracts flies where the vfts are there to handle. In late summer I make sure that all the vft traps are full.
 
Any fly-sized insect will work. Actually, they catch ants more in nature, don't they?
You can put something stinky in a jar and put a funnel on top. The insects will go in and not be able to get out. Then stick the jar in the freezer for a few moments and you can remove the insects while they are in suspended animation.

Regards,

Joe
 
A small caliber handgun works quite well.  But learning to hit them on the fly...pun intended...takes a lot of practice.  
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I'm just kidding.  That type of behavior can get you into lotsa' of trouble...especially if your neighbor gets upset and has a LARGE caliber handgun.
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[b said:
Quote[/b] (Lauderdale @ May 04 2004,9:54)]A small caliber handgun works quite well.
I'm a horrable shot, so I just use a cannon... ;)

I use a net and just wave it over dog doo. Then place em in a jar in the refidgerator to knock them out for future feeding. They live up to 4 days in the fridge...
 
On Monty Python they used a bazooka to kill mosquitoes.
 
I rarely get to see an open trap on my plants. Pigs, every one of them!
 
  • #10
Another cool thing you can do(invented by David Crump), is if you fish, set your leftover minnows(dead of course) near the flytraps. The flies will come and land on everything around in excitement and traps will cose like crazy! This was in an old CPN.
My reptile supply catalog from Fosters has a bugg zapper that catches them alive for about $35. It might be a worthwhile investment.
If you want to spend a little $$ and have a lot of plants, you can get 1000 crickets of five different sizes(fruit-fly size up to 1 inch adults-you have to pick the one size you want) delivered from one company I know for $16.99. Beats pet store prices,,even with some waste.

Joe
 
  • #11
Don't VFT's look better when not fed?
 
  • #12
[b said:
Quote[/b] ]My reptile supply catalog from Fosters has a bugg zapper that catches them alive for about $35. It might be a worthwhile investment.

LOL. Just remember to marinade them before you cook them. Just in case your plants have picky tastebuds!
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  • #13
[b said:
Quote[/b] (The Griffin @ May 05 2004,7:24)]Another cool thing you can do(invented by David Crump), is if you fish, set your leftover minnows(dead of course) near the flytraps. The flies will come and land on everything around in excitement and traps will cose like crazy! This was in an old CPN.
 My reptile supply catalog from Fosters has a bugg zapper that catches them alive for about $35. It might be a worthwhile investment.
 If you want to spend a little $$ and have a lot of plants, you can get 1000 crickets of five different sizes(fruit-fly size up to 1 inch adults-you have to pick the one size you want) delivered from one company I know for $16.99. Beats pet store prices,,even with some waste.

 Joe
Why not just cut up the minnows and use them for food?
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  • #14
Remember, a venus flytrap requires a stimulus while closing over prey. The movement of the prey stimulates the trap to close tighter and for digestive juices to start flowing. If you add something dead to the trap, it will simply reopen the next day.
 
  • #15
Ok, what I do is to pluck flies off the d.filiformis which I grow. The filiformis catches tons of them, so I suppose a few of them taken off wouldn't hurt the filiformis one bit. I then use a pair of tweezers and carefully put the fly (which can't fly away because its wings have usually been covered in sundew glue) on the VFT and watch it close!

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Or see: http://ebeyonder.tripod.com/drosera/gallery.htm and videos of flies on http://ebeyonder.tripod.com/drosera/gallery3.htm
 
  • #16
man, u should see me the day i got my vft, i ahd a lil grocery bag in hand, and wen out back and caught a fly (with frustration and patience) i caught one with delight, bagged it and trapped with the vft, an hr or 2 the fly got tired of rambling around the bag and settled in the trap, muahahahha

my first catch
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and the other day- my day, with excitement i overfed the trap
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and there was only one trap that was open
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but later that week- that one trap was closed and ocupied, i was excited cuz i didnt kno the trap can catch flies on its own with out me, watching the fly buzzin over the plant and never going inside
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then later i said dad dad! the trap caught somthing!

he said yea ryte, i killed a fly earlier and fed to it
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darn dad
 
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