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This article provides information on making a tsetse fly trap to control these pest flies as part of a drought management strategy in tsetse fly invaded areas. These areas are usually settled by agro-pastoralists and tsetse fly can have devastating impacts.



  1. 1
    Use the blue material (piece C) as follows:

  2. 2
    Use the white netting (Piece D) as follows:

  3. 3
    Use the blue material (Piece A) as follows:

  4. 4
    Use the black material (Piece B1) as follows:

  5. 5
    Use the black material (Piece B2) as follows:


=== Setting Up the Trap ===

  1. 1
    Clear the selected trap site of any vegetation.
  2. 2
    Determine the wind direction so as to site the trap facing the windward side.
  3. 3
    Erect a back pole to guide in setting up of two-side poles. Firmly peg the back poles. Fasten the trap with pieces of wire to the back poles. Peg in the two side poles and fasten the trap so that the entrance faces the proper direction. Prepare the centre pole by fixing three nails of three inches each with a clearance of two inches each at the top and peg it firmly. Fix the netting on bottle top and support it by the nails at the top of the centre pole.
  4. 4
    Fit the polythene cage at the apex of the erected trap and support the cage with strings stretched from thin sticks that are fastened on one of the side poles.
  5. 5
    Firmly fix two containers, one for carrying attractant liquid substance (acetone) on the ground next to the back pole and the other for carrying cow urine. The attractant container should be covered with a lid that has a small aperture for slowing down the releasing odours as the attractant evaporates.
  6. 6
    Fix transparent polythene bag to the top of the trap frame. The polythene bag is used as a cage for holding and suffocating tsetse flies. The sunlight attracts tsetse flies into the cage, which get killed by the heat from the sun. Dead flies in the cage or regularly disposed. For purposes of keeping records, tsetse fly catches are counted and recorded. The tsetse fly catches can also be sorted by age or sex for recording.


  • Click on any of the images to enlarge them.

Things You'll Need

  • One piece of blue material measuring 3m x 1m (Piece A)
  • One piece of black material measuring 1m x ½m (Piece B1)
  • One piece of black material measuring 1m x ½m (Piece B2)
  • One piece of blue material measuring 1m x 1m (Piece C)
  • One piece of white netting material measuring ¼m x ¼m (Piece D)
  • Bottle top with a ½ inch pinch hole
  • A transparent polythene paper bag to act as a cage for holding tsetse catches

Sources and Citations

  • Original source of article, Practical Action, Ttstse Fly Trap. Shared with permission and appreciation.

Article Info

Categories: Garden Pests and Weeds

In other languages:

Español: hacer una trampa para moscas tse tse, Русский: сделать ловушку для мух цеце

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