Comparison of Two Fly Traps for the Capture of Horse Flies (Diptera: Tabanidae)

A 2-yr study was conducted to examine differences between two commercially available horse fly traps, the Epps^® Biting Fly Trap (Farnum Co., Phoenix, AZ) and the Horse Pal^® (Newman Enterprises, Omro, WI), placed on three horse farms located in central North Carolina. Traps captured over 8,422 tabanids, representing 4 genera and 19 species. Tabanus quinquevittatus Wiedemann was the most abundant fly collected (2345), followed by the T. lineola F. species complex (2087), T. fulvulus Weidemann (1397) and T. petiolatus Hine (839). Although the Horse Pal captured more flies than the Epps trap, fly capture differences between traps were not significant for the 2000 and 2001 summer seasons (F = 1.39; df = 3, 143; P ≤ 0.249). The Epps trap was most efficacious for early-season (June and July) trapping of T. quinquevittatus and the T. lineola complex in 2000. In contrast, the Horse Pal was more efficacious for these species during the same period in 2001. The Horse Pal was the preferred trap for relative ease in handling.