North Shore Greenhead Fly Control Project

History:  In the early 1960s public demand for relief from the nuisance of greenhead flies resulted in the organization of the North Shore Greenhead Fly Control Project.  Earlier attempts to control greenheads by burning the marsh and applying spray applications had unsatisfactory results. As a result, the Project was originally charged with developing an environmentally  friendly method of controlling greenheads.  Several years of research led to the development of the greenhead fly trap. Research reached a plateau where a cost benefit analysis  showed that continued research was not warranted. The project became a routine operation of annual deployment, retrieval, and maintenance of traps. This remains so today with the exception of the development of Octanol (synthetic ox breath) as an attractant, which is now used in selective traps.

Legislation:  The project operates under the authority of Chapter 252 of the Generals Laws of the Commonwealth, GLC.

Administration and Structure:  In the interest of cost effectiveness, the project operates as a subsidiary of the Northeast Massachusetts Mosquito Control and Wetlands Management District.  It is solely supported by those coastal municipalities that choose to subscribe to the project. 

Control method:  The greenhead fly trap is a visual stimulant which, theoretically, appears as a silhouette of a warm blooded mammal.  Female greenheads in pursuit of a blood meal are attracted to the trap and fly to the underside.  Being light sensitive they travel up the screen on the underside of the trap, through the opening near the top, and are trapped inside.  Traps are placed on the salt marsh in areas of low vegetation adjacent to waterways known to be fly ways and along breaks in vegetation between the marsh and upland as barriers.  

Greenhead Trap Description

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hom5xLO8pbE

 

Build your own Greenhead Trap

 

http://www.holgatetaxpayers.org/docs/greenhead-howto.pdf

 

 

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