Making a better spider trap.
Innovations keep coming from TrapsDirect.com, with the introduction of the advantage spider-trap-4. These traps feature a flexible assembly including a tall tent for daddy long legs, a wedge for wall crawlers, and flat trap which is ideal in basements, sheds or a garage setting. These traps come in sheets of 4 traps each measuring : 2.75″ x 8.5″. We find that small spider traps have advantages over bigger traps
Windows or Walls?
I think many of our readers have seen the video of a spider crawling out the side of an insect monitor trap. (The type of trap which has “windows” on either side to ‘monitor’ what’s in the trap). The argument has long been made that the actual ENTRY side of the trap IS THE WINDOW, and that an additional window in the insect monitor / spider trap doesn’t serve any purpose.
Traps Direct apparently agrees that the insect monitor window is pointless, because the spider-trap-4 has no windows, and replaces the windows with an extended trapping surface… So not only does the ‘floor’ of the trap have a super sticky glue, but the ‘walls’ have glue instead of windows.
Not Just for Spiders
Stuck on the ceiling
The spider-trap-4 also has ceiling coverage, meaning that when assembled as a ‘tent’ the roof of the tent also is covered in spider stopping glue. This works especially well with taller spiders like a daddy long legs ( Pholcidae ) who’s legs rise up high as they walk. They are just as likely to get caught by the ceiling as they are by the floor.
Wrap Around – get it?
So between glue on the floor, both walls and on the ceiling the glue WRAPS AROUND the 4 sides of the trap. That’s the wrap-around feature. It’s useful in both the closed spider trap tent as well as the wedge or triangle assembly, but where it really adds value is when using the stick trap as a flat trap… With an insect monitor like the “Trapper Monitor & Insect Trap” you’ll only find glue on the floor, which means if you want a continuous line of traps, you can only use them width wise. When using the traps direct spider trap, with wrap around trapping surface you can lay the spider traps end to end length wise getting 3 times more distance with the same number of traps.
Active Trap Field Entrance ( ATFE )
For comparison purposes the Advantage Spider and Insect trap scores is a 14 ATFE. When comparing spider control solutions the active trap field entrance represents the length of entrances to the trap, and is a means to compare trap size. (there are other factors also including the type of glue, Active Trap Field Surface Area, height of the trap, warning edges) but the main comparison for trap size is the ATFE.
A trap that is 10″ long, but only has sticky glue on 3″ would have a 6 ATFE , but a seemingly smaller trap that is 8.5″ long, but has sticky glue running 7″ would be a 14 ATFE meaning although smaller, the trap actually has more ability to catch insects.
Once you have an ATFE to compare spider traps, just divide the price, by the # of traps, by the AFTE to a cost per ( cATFE ). The lower the cost per Active Trap Field Entrance the better the value.
Thanks for the article, I had heard about the AFTE when I called asking about two different traps. Do you know when more vendors will be publishing a traps’s atfe score?
Hi Scott, several companies are starting to publish Active Trap Field Entrance – ATFe values (you had flipped the T & F ). As we see more of them, we can direct you to them.
Until it becomes more wide spread, you can just add the lengths of the open edges of the traps on both sides. Don’t include the sides with the tab and slot, because insects can’t enter there.
From what we’ve seen, there are a couple competing Active Trap Field metrics.
ATFe only considers the entrance to the trap, but the glueless margin from the edge of the trap to the start of the sticky surface actually factors into the trap’s effectiveness. By giving an insect an warning zone, the catch rate drops. Or said in reverse, with zero margin, the catch increases because the insect is caught without warning.
An alternative metric to consider is TACF (trap active catch field) which includes the ATFe but adds 50% of the Zero Margin length, and also includes the percentage of the entry zone that is no warning.
for my purposes, I prefer the TACF because the zero margin makes a big difference in catch rates.