Making Low Cost Sticky Traps

[semi_lucid]

I've been thinking about ways to control Brown Marmorated Stink Bugs and Squash Bugs. (And also Pickleworms.)

The Commercial sticky traps I've seen seem a bit too expensive, so I'm looking at making the glue for the lowest cost possible.

I found a couple of places online that said;

"You can make an adhesive using a quart of corn syrup and a quart of water. Simply combine the water and corn syrup and boil it until it makes a sticky paste."

So I was thinking the following;

1. Grow some squash plants very early in the year, indoors.
2. Make up 5 gallons of the corn syrup glue.
3. Grind up the squash plants, and maybe add some kind of preservative.
4. Mix the squash plants into the glue to give it scent.
5. Spread the glue on sheets of corrugated card board. Preferably very brightly colored cardboard, to attract thrips. One source said hot pink is best for thrips.
6. Early in the season, before you put your transplants out, place the large size traps in the area where your garden will be. The idea is to trap the over wintering population early in the season.
7. Continue trapping through out the season.

The key is this glue needs to be low cost. So I started looking for corn syrup in bulk packaging, and at a low cost. I found that some syrups are thicker, for example "Gold Metal 4160"

Quoting from foodservicewarehouse.com;

Q: Is this corn syrup thicker than the type you can purchase in the grocery store?
A: Yes, the 60 lb Glucose Corn Syrup (4160) by Gold Medal is extremely thick. It is considered to be class 42DE and it resembles thick molasses. We don't recommend using a plastic measuring cup with this corn syrup because of how dense it is.

http://www.google.com/search?q=Gold+...w=1333&bih=829

http://www.cargill.com/food/wcm/grou.../na3014942.pdf

So does anybody know much about corn syrup? Anybody have any ideas about how to make a low cost glue?

John

[dice]

Some homemade glue recipes:
http://canteach.ca/elementary/recipe7.html

[lakelady]

I've been thinking....perhaps you could heat it, and add some cornstarch (actually, you would have to add the cornstarch first, and THEN heat) to help it solidify on cards or boards?

[O.P. Mater]

Semi-Lucid, are you still working on this? I made the glue you are talking about with corn syrup. It did a pretty good job, but wanted to slide off the colored plastic cups I put it on. I used several colors trying to catch thrips, but it seemed that the yellow worked out best for the ones in SC. Apparently eugenol is an attractant, so I dipped one end of a Q-tip into a bottle of clove oil and punched a hole in the cup to hold it. It did help lure them.

I had better luck when I ordered a 15 oz container of Sticky Trap....it is really sticky and I caught cucumber beetles easily. It did not have the strength to catch Squash Bugs or Stink Bugs. I almost believe the sticky traps to catch mice might work on the larger bugs, but I haven't tried it yet. I did catch a cute little lizard in one of them and discovered that you can "catch and release" without harm if you put oil on the critter...:-) My PSA for the day. Am interested in what you are doing. Do you think squishing the squash bugs and adding that to the glue would work?

[semi_lucid]

lakelady

Thanks for the suggestion.

Mater

I haven't cooked any of it up yet, but I'm still thinking about it.

Part of what got me thinking about it was reading about Pickleworms. They are killed by freezing temps, so they die back to southern Florida every year. Then in the summer, they spread north as far as Michigan.

If I remember correctly, each female can lay 450 eggs, and there can be four generations in a summer. So 450 x 450 x 450 x 450 = 41,006,250,000. (That would be if they had a 100% survival rate.)

So if all of that is true, and I don't know if it is, then one Florida female could have 41 billion descendants by the end of summer. It seems to me that the time to control Pickleworms is in the bottle neck of the Florida peninsula. They are attracted to the scent of squash plants, so if you could offer people in Florida FREE scented sticky traps. maybe you could control that plague.

Ironically, I don't get Pickleworms where I'm at.

I'm planning on trying to cook some glue sometime in the next few months. My main target would be Squash bugs and Brown Marmorated Stink Bugs, so I would need to make a good quality glue.

Regards.
John

Edit. If half those eggs were male, then it would be 225 x 225 x 225 x 255 = 2,562,890,625 So only 2.5 billion descendants.

[O.P. Mater]

I guess if all those males were sterile, it would solve the problem? Like the screw worms in Florida?

[semi_lucid]

Originally Posted by O.P. Mater

I guess if all those males were sterile, it would solve the problem? Like the screw worms in Florida?

Good point. Pickleworms have a built in vulnerability in that they die back to a limited area on a peninsula.

But the Screwworm was vulnerable to the sterile male technique, because;

"the technique centers on a unique reproductive handicap that prevents female hominivorax flies from reproducing more than once in their life-spans."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cochliomyia

I don't know if Pickleworms would have that handicap.

John

[Hulamom]

Instead of using corn syrup, I've used some 'Tangle Foot' and spread it on yellow cups. It really worked well for me and cheaper than the sticky traps. Good luck!

[O.P. Mater]

Should have checked the label....the 15 oz container I have is "Tangle Foot" too. Sorry for the mistake. I just checked the price and it was around $10.