There's really nothing more unpleasant than a swarm of fruit flies, gnats and mosquitos hovering around you. I tested the popular Katchy Insect Trap, and here's why I gave it 5 stars on Amazon.
FYI, prices and ratings are accurate as of time of writing.
Katchy Indoor Insect Trap for Fruit Flies, Mosquitos, Gnats and Moths
Top-rated: 78,560 ratings
Credit: Amazon.com
Highlight: Triple trapping power - first the UV light attracts the bug, then the fan sucks it in, and finally the sticky glue boards trap it. No Zapper!
Most helpful review: "I purchased a scratchNdent and found my item had been used and slightly damaged, the top swirl grill was missing a small piece, and one of the sticky disks had been put into the unit already with a gnat stuck to it. Okay. I plugged it in, pushed one of the setting buttons (standard) and the light came on and the little fan makes a little bit of breeze, but wet a finger and hold it at the bottom and it is breezing out. It is also bigger than I expected, but I have such a serious bug issue in this place, I don't care as long as it works. Something was mentioned about it works better in lower light levels. So. I plugged it in and set it up in a place I have been having issues. Four hours later, I pick it up to look down in. There's a lot more than one gnat on the mat already. It's doing the job. Great.
The local little winged wildlife has resisted: letting the pots dry out good between waterings, watering with a mix of hydrogen peroxide and water, top mulching the pots, and the yellow sticky trap things. This seems to be vacuuming them up. YAY! If this works out I will get a couple more as I have plants in a few areas in my house. Trust me, I have at least six different microbugs including fruit flies, fungus gnats (arrgh!), a different gnat, and not sure exactly but a few are like tiny tiny various sorts of beetles... keeping the swarms down would be wonderful, without killing my plants. I will update this as it goes.
Recent update #1: My house is large, my buggie collection is way down on one end of the house where I have my first one, but. I just got a second one, also scratchNdent, to deal with the other end. I seen where someone complained that it is a fly-spa. This will NOT work on houseflies. They are too big and strong to be whooshed down onto the sticky pad. There are other ones built ($60-80) as wall sconces that WILL do the houseflies. This isn't built for that. However all the assorted little gnats and such are collecting at alarming rates on my sticky pads. It is nice to sit at my computer in the evening and not kill at least a dozen tiny assorted buggies. And my fungus gnat problem that came in with some potting soil mix, is pretty much gone. I can't say enough, if you have a grow booth and issues with little critters, that putting one of these in the booth at about two weeks for a night will not affect your grow and if there is anything in there it will clear out most of the problems.
I have one room where the booth and most of my houseplants live (plus my spring starts as I go into that season as I update this) and the first one is outside the grow booth on the floor where it clears that room pretty well. Second one installed near the kitchen sink and other bathroom on other end of house, as there is a persistent problem there. I don't think it will catch sewer flies but those tend to respond to hot vinegar flushed through a running disposal with hot sink water, then follow with a cut up lemon and some ice cubes run through the disposer. I will let you know if I get those little buggers back and if it can catch one or not. On both I am turning them off during the day and on after dark, as that is when the UV light seems to be the most visible to the little winged pests. I also want to see if the kitchen one will draw spiders. There are a few kinds that are drawn to dead prey, and though I have sticky traps for them, if this will be able to stick one down or not if it comes to check it out. Another thing I will update.
Recent update #2: Plant area one is catching mostly gnats, vatloads of them. Kitchen has only a few, but is getting the fruit flies from the bananas. I put spider traps near both and the kitchen catch is up. Could not be happier with both Katchys. Have spring bedding and flower starts going and a new grow in the tent. I’ve put one in the tent a few times and no gnattie problem. No chemicals. Still worth the price! Replacing the sticky pads is super easy too.
Recent update #3: Very late fall. We are the house servants of two mixed breed part Persian purries. The grey and white one in particular has very fine hair and a very full coat despite daily brushing/grooming. So we have slightly pre-used fur all over. Plus lots of house dust-joys of where we live. I have to take a q-tip to the top of both my Katchy’s weekly to keep the house glorp from obstructing airflow (also have to do it to our tower fans). Still catching the tiniest no-see-ums, fungus gnats and fruit flies. With fall garden harvest, the fruit flies moved in. I added a capful of apple cider taped off with a few holes next to the kitchen one, and it was literally carpeted with fruit flies in the bottom. The plants that came in brought micro buggies, and those numbers are quickly dropping as well. A Katchy doesn’t instantly get your population but in days you should have a disgusting collection on the bottom pad… I purchased a no- zap UV/sticky pad catcher meant for houseflies and installed over the toilet at the ceiling. It also does the job with a little time.
In summary, Katchy does its job well, and is easy to use and maintain. Money well spent!" — BitTwiddler
Get it from Amazon now: $44.99 & FREE Returns
Credit: Amazon.com