Black Border Increases Stomoxys calcitrans Catch on White Sticky Traps

Stable fly, Stomoxys calcitrans, is a biting fly that can cause severe irritation to livestock resulting in reduced productivity. The most common method of monitoring S. calcitrans is through the use of sticky traps and many designs have been developed using different colours and materials such as alsynite fibreglass and polypropylene sheeting. Laboratory experiments and some field experimentation have demonstrated that colour contrast can attract S. calcitrans. However, this response has not been fully utilised in trap design. To test that simple colour contrast could increase trap efficacy, white sticky traps were mounted on three differently coloured backgrounds (white, yellow, and black) and positioned at five sites on a mixed livestock farm. White sticky traps on a black background caught significantly more S. calcitrans than the yellow or white backgrounds. An incidental result was that Pollenia sp. were caught in greater numbers on the yellow framed traps. The reasons for S. calcitrans attraction to black-white contrast are most likely due to conspicuousness in the environment although the extent to which flies are using this feature as a host-location cue or a perching site are unknown.