Author name: Giridhar Pai

As the world moves to a net-zero regime where human activity does not add net carbon dioxide to the atmosphere, every aspect of life will change, including business practices and services. In pest management, we at Pestroniks foresee a major shift from conventional UV fluorescent tube ILTs to UV LED ILTs as trap manufacturers comply with national government regulations for phase-out fluorescent tubes. While Singapore is looking to stop the usage of non-LED light fixtures after 2022, in India, the central and state governments incentivized consumers to switch to LEDs for power savings. FLYght traps don’t just help users follow the rules which do not allow fluorescent tubes. Still, their LEDs generate enormous savings in operating power costs compared to regular fluorescent tube traps. Look at the 71% savings you can generate from FLYght traps over two-tube traps or 81% savings over three-tube traps. When estimating power consumption, we use the actual power consumed and not just the power rating (for example, 8W LEDs consume 9W power and 45-W tubes consume 53W). However, we have assumed a cost per kWh of energy in Indian rupees, which you can interchange with any currency for the same results. Indian companies that follow the April to March financial year cycle have started budgeting for their purchase of FLYght traps. Our customers benefit from power savings and the freedom to replace fluorescent tubes annually as FLYght’s UV LEDs do not need users to replace them over 50,000 hours. We are currently busy assisting our customers in planning their 2022-23 budgets in which they invest in FLYght One, and Duo traps to help them save on fly monitoring costs.

Insect Light Trap technology had evolved over the past ninety years when William M Frost patented a fly zapper in the United States. The first major change in ILTs was a shift from using an electrical grid to electrocute flies to the use of glue boards to trap them. With the advent of Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) for consumer and commercial lighting in the past few decades, it was merely time before we would have UV LEDs in Insect Light Traps.  At Pestroniks, we were the first UV LED Insect Light Trap manufacturers to launch such traps in 2020. We spent years researching how UV LEDs affect filth flies and have designed our FLYght traps for maximally attracting flies. In addition, our traps’ patented bio-Visual Enhancer (VE+) trap coating benefits the UV-A from LEDs to allure flies, like happens in wild carnivorous plants that draw insects for a meal. Here is Pestroniks’ ultimate guide to help you choose the best UV LED Insect Light Trap in the market. LED position determines a trap’s effectiveness: LEDs emit light very differently from fluorescent tubes, which were hitherto the choice of ILT makers. Pestroniks has carefully positioned the LEDs to ensure that FLYght traps unfailingly attract flies.  LEDs should reduce power consumption: Our FLYght traps have only 8 LEDs that draw just 9 W of power-saving 72% over two fluorescent tubes of 30 W rating and 80% over three fluorescent tubes of 45 W rating. Can you imagine such huge savings in electricity expenses? You may find some ILT brands with so many UV LEDs that those traps are likely to generate no power savings when you compare them to fluorescent UV traps. LED tubes versus LEDs: Some of the ILTs in the market have UV LED tubes making you wonder about the benefit of such an arrangement. In FLYght traps, we place UV LEDs individually, spacing them for the best trap UV-A output in conjunction with the bio-VE+ coating. Attracting flies matters more than UV output: ILTs work by UV attracting flies, and in an era of UV fluorescent tubes, the higher a trap’s UV, the better it could lure flies. FLYght traps, we have focussed on just enough UV-A output to maximize the fly catch. We don’t claim to have LEDs that emit the most UV-A as we are focused on making our traps attract flies through trap design and our patented bio-VE technology. Insect light traps can be attractive, too: FLYght traps are light yet sturdy, sleek, and compact but attract and trap flies like any effective ILT should and at times even better than conventional fluorescent tube traps. Our traps weigh under two kilograms but are sturdy in their aluminum shell. LEDs help us keep the FLYght design sleek and compact and even accommodate universal glue boards. The result of our design thinking has generated a trap that looks part of your interior décor, not a fly trap. Trapping flies discreetly: Viewers may be surprised not seeing flies inside a FLYght trap as that is what we set out to design. We concealed FLYght’s glue boards to trap flies after entry, but the trapped flies remain out of sight of viewers near the trap. Retaining tackiness of glueboards: The UV in ILTs affects the tackiness of glue in glue boards. Other ILT manufacturers suggest glue board change because glueboards in their traps are continually getting UV-A exposure and losing their fly trapping ability. You won’t face any such challenge in FLYght traps as we made sure that our traps’ glue boards don’t face the UV! No annual light-source replacement: We give you FLYght traps with UV LEDs that last a long time or 50,000 hours! So, we don’t suggest you plan for any light source replacement for five years! No more hassle of planning fluorescent tube replacement or spending on it. Get a FLYght trap and switch it on to operate it efficiently over many years. No more plastic sleeves on tubes or shatterproof tubes: We use inherently glass-free UV LEDs in our FLYght traps. When using FLYght traps, you don’t have to worry about getting plastic sleeved or shatterproof fluorescent tubes to contain glass in accidental breakage. No more worrying about hazardous waste: Regular ILTs have fluorescent tubes, which you must dispose of annually and carefully because they contain heavy metals. FLYght UV LEDs are free of any toxic material, leaving you free from worrying about waste disposal from your ILTs. We hope our suggestions helped you understand the UV LED technology of Insect Light Traps. Please get in touch with us for help to choose and use UV LED ILTs.

Launching the FLYght Duo in 2021, Pestroniks MD, Carl Baptista, made a short presentation highlighting how Pest Management Professionals could be ahead in their markets with FLYght UV LED Insect Light Traps (ILTs).  Pestroniks Innovations of Singapore designed the FLYght range to imitate carnivorous plant behavior of attracting insect prey using a UV glow and a sticky surface.  Pestroniks ILT technology bio-mimics carnivorous plants to attract and trap filth flies inside buildings. FLYght trap’s patented bio-Visual Enhancer (VE)+ coating emits a range UV wavelength like a carnivorous plant to attract flies that get stuck to the glue boards inside.  The bio-VE+ surface differentiates FLYght from all other UV LED traps in the market, which rely only on UV emission. FLYght traps UV LEDs face the back of the trap, and flies see the reflection of the UV on the bio-VE+ sheet, which attracts them.  Pestroniks has optimized FLYght LEDs to emit UV wavelengths that elicit the most positive phototactic response in filth flies. FLYght traps use universal glue boards that are standard across the globe and which a user can easily source.  As the trap is light being less than 2 kg., you can even use two-sided sticky tape to fix the trap on walls. In addition, the trap comes with hinges to let users fix it five feet above the ground on walls.  The trap’s 8 UV LEDs consume less than 10 W of electricity-generating enormous savings in power consumption. FLYght LEDs are inherently glass-free and comply with HACCP and other food safety standards.  Pestroniks’ three-year FLYght trap warranty covers any manufacturing defects and replaces the faulty component to let users have uninterrupted use of their purchases. In regular UV fluorescent tube traps, the UV cures the glue on the boards, making them less effective as they harden and lose their ability to trap insects. In FLYght traps, the UV does not fall directly on the glue boards letting them retain stickiness, last longer, and catch more effectively than conventional UV fluorescent tube traps.  In Singapore, the government has mandated discontinuing fluorescent tube traps by 2023, and FLYght UV LED traps are the right choice to meet that requirement. Pestroniks expects that such worldwide restrictions on fluorescent trap use will popularise FLYght UV LED traps. Pestroniks continually tests FLYght traps at its laboratories and, in such tests, has found that its traps attract more quickly and trap more flies than conventional UV fluorescent tube traps.  In addition, Pestroniks commissions independent test laboratories to evaluate its FLYght traps and shall soon share the results of such tests here. The UV from FLYght LEDs remains constant throughout the 50,000-hour life of the light source, which is a significant difference from fluorescent tube UV, which continually declines to be almost nil by the end of the manufacturer’s stated life hours. FLYght users are thus free from replacing the UV light source of their traps for five years. Pestroniks has several plans lined up to enhance FLYght trap capability, including auto-dimming, fly count, species identification, and genus-specific glue boards.  Pestroniks welcomes partners to commission such innovative technology for improved fly monitoring. We hope you enjoy watching this video and request you to leave your feedback in the comments.

Though businesses buy and use Insect Light Traps (ILTs) for monitoring flies, we commonly come across ILTs at the wrong height or full of trapped flies, due to lack of user knowledge of ILT use.  We share the below guidelines on insect light trap use to help our customers to implement an effective fly monitoring program at their facilities. Do’s: Understand the path a fly takes after entering your facility to decide the place where you want to trap them before they reach areas of open food. Intercept flies after they enter but before they reach the sensitive areas of your facility. Fly-proof your building with double doors, auto door closers, and insect screens on windows and vents to minimize fly incursion. Have traps along the critical pathways that see regular human and material movement. Install traps five feet or lower for best results in trapping flies.  Even traps on floors effectively trap fly trapping as those on walls. Ensure that you can access all ILTs for replacing glue boards and checking for the flies they have trapped. Spread traps evenly for ensuring that you trap flies throughout the facility  Use more traps in areas such as trash areas that have a higher fly population. Analyze the glue board fly catch for the number and type of flies which may vary with season and by trap position. Use ILTs for fly monitoring and not controlling flies as no devices can trap all flies entering your facility.   Don’ts: Site your traps next to light sources like windows or lighting that divert flies away from ILTs. Install ILTs at sensitive areas where you don’t want any flies. Place ILTs in narrow passageways with high foot or vehicular traffic that may damage traps. Forget to review your facility’s trap efficacy to decide which to move or remove as they are not trapping insects. Ignore dust and greasy vapors affecting trap performance by making glue boards less sticky or damaging the electronic circuits which illuminate the lights. Let glue boards with dead insects remain in traps as they could prevent fly trapping and attract carnivorous insects. Place traps near strong air currents from fans or air conditioners. Expose ILTs to water sprays or high humidity or oily vapors. Place traps near open doors or windows facing outwards. Use traps close to production areas having exposed food. If you have any questions after reading our guidelines on placement and use of ILTs, please contact us.