UV-A or ultraviolet rays have emerged over the years as a major tool in integrated pest management for the elimination of house flies. One of the key fly control properties of ultraviolet light is that flies are naturally lured in the direction of its source.
Once the flies are attracted by UV rays, it is important to capture, kill, or contain them. The earliest of fly traps introduced to the market used to electrocute the flies on a grid. These fly traps are still available but it is strongly recommended that you do not use these traps. They are unhygienic and can in fact spread bacteria more rapidly than if you just ignored the houseflies. They are also noisy as they ‘zap’ the flies and more expensive to run as they use significantly more electricity.
Modern fly traps, instead of electrocuting flies, trap them on a special glueboard. There is a great deal of science that goes into glueboard design so you need to be aware of cheap, traps as these glueboards often do not hold the flies and they escape. Quality glueboards will last for over 3-month in the field and catch and hold flies, helping to keep your premises fly-free.
What is Ultraviolet Light?
On the light spectrum, ultraviolet light is found slightly to the left of the visible spectrum of light. It is measured in nanometers, and its wavelength tends to lie between 200 and 420 nm. UV light is divided into three spectrums, UV-C, UVB, which are dangerous to people and UVA which is used in quality fly lights. UV-A has a wavelength between 300 and 400 nm.
Why Are Flies Attracted to UV Light?
We, the humans, can’t see UV light. However, flies can see ultraviolet light because of the complex structure of their eyes. The eyes of flies comprise of hundreds of tiny hexagonal lenses. These lenses create a curved lattice across the eye. As they are attracted to light, flies are said to be phototactic.
Flies get mostly attracted to UV lights with wavelengths between 350 and 370 nm.
Capturing Flies Using UV Light
Ultraviolet fly traps are used extensively these days in schools, offices, nursing homes, hospitals, and different food handling areas to eliminate flies. There are two variants of fly traps that utilise UV light, with different methods of killing or capturing the flies. As mentioned above, you must only use glueboard models for your safety. These can then either use fluorescent lamps, or more modern units use LED lights, which are much greener as they use significantly less energy, which means they are lower cost to run. Also the lamps last 3-years, compared to 1-year for fluorescent lamps; so there is less waste being dumped.
Vectothor is the most trusted name in Australia, when it comes to effective fly management. The company offers a wide range of environment-friendly fly lights, glueboards, and many other highly effective products. If you are worried about fly infestation at your home, office, or factory, this research based organisation has the most effective solutions for you.
