Nzi trap Publications Biting Flies Site map

BITING FLIES - The NZI Trap

A simple, environment-friendly trap
as an alternative to the use of insecticides
 

Hard to believe - A biting fly trap that actually works!
 

 Fly Catch 8k
Photo by R.S. Copeland, ICIPE

The catch in a Nzi trap baited with cow urine and acetone in the Kenyan Rift Valley in June 1997. The netting contains 1,700 horse flies, stable flies and tsetse that have entered the trap within the last few hours. The collecting bag and bottle are overwhelmed by a catch over a few days of about 20 - 30,000 flies.

Step by Step Instructions
How to Make "DIY" Traps out of cloth
or rigid materials (plywood, plexiglass)

       Making a Trap      

"Nzi" is Swahili for fly

Practical Resources
 Making and using traps

Publications
Scientific literature

 

Traps for Sale
$$$$$$


Technical Photographs 
High resolution images of tsetse
and other biting flies

Nzi trap catches on the 4th of May, 2006 at the Lower Suwannee Wildlife Refuge between Chiefland and Cedar Key, Florida, USA.

The bag contains thousands of tabanids, mostly horse flies of the species Tabanus lineola.

(Photos by D. Strickman, USDA)

Tabanus similis 17k
Tabanus similis

 

Resources and detailed information
from a residential setting
in Russell, Ontario

Stomoxys niger bilineatusPubMed
Mihok, S. (2002) The development of a multipurpose trap (the Nzi) for tsetse and other biting flies. Bulletin of Entomological Research 92, 385-403.

Tabanus similisPubMed
Mihok, S., Carlson, D.A., Krafsur, E.S. & Foil, L.D.
(2006) Performance of the Nzi and other traps for biting flies in North America. Bulletin of Entomological Research 96, 387-397.

 

Mihok, S., & Lange, K. (2011)
Synergism between ammonia and phenols for Hybomitra
tabanids in northern and temperate Canada.
Medical and Veterinary Entomology, Early View

Mihok,S., & Mulye, H. (2010)
Responses of tabanids to Nzi traps baited with octenol,
cow urine and phenols in Canada.
Medical and Veterinary Entomology, 24, 266-272. PubMed

Mihok, S., Carlson, D.A. & Ndegwa, P.N. (2007)
Tsetse and other biting fly responses to Nzi traps baited with
octenol, phenols and acetone.
Medical and Veterinary Entomology, 21, 70-84. PubMed

Mihok, S. & Carlson, D.A. (2007)
Performance of painted plywood and cloth Nzi traps relative to
Manitoba and greenhead traps for tabanids and stable flies.
Journal of Economic Entomology, 100, 613-618. PubMed

 

Record Daily Catches

Fly Number Place / Date Odour Baits
Tsetse Flies 5,355 Nguruman, Kenya
May 26, 1995
Acetone, Cow Urine, Octenol
Black Flies
Black Flies in Mirror Video
Video
~30,000 Hay River, NWT, Canada
July 14, 2009
Octenol, Phenols
Stable Flies 2,716 Nairobi, Kenya
July 25, 1995
Octenol
1,496 Lethbridge, Canada
September 21, 1999
Unbaited
Horse Flies
Nzi Trap YouTube Video
Video
3,163 Hay River, NWT, Canada
July 11, 2009
Unbaited
  4,182 Hay River, NWT, Canada
July 19, 2009
Octenol, Phenols
  2,088 Cape Cod, USA
July 16,
2008 (set for 3 hours only)
Octenol
  626 Quelimane, Mozambique
September 22, 1997
Acetone, Phenols
557 Lahirasso, Burkina Faso
November 1, 1997
Unbaited

Mosquitoes
(Image 79k)

712 Russell, Ontario, Canada
July 18, 2002
Carbon Dioxide
Octenol

Tanzania Tstese Stamps

Ethiopian Tsetse Stamps


Dr. Steve Mihok

BSc 1975 University of Toronto
PhD 1979 University of Alberta

388 Church Street, Russell, Ontario, K4R 1A8 CANADA

If you have found the Nzi trap useful
Please tell me! Send me a picture!
smihok@rogers.com
 

 

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KARIBUNI

On the web since February 2001

Resources for Researchers

Updated
12-Dec-2011