Blinded by Science

With our VisiLure® product line, you notice right away the attractive appearance that's different from other sticky traps. But there’s more to them than meets the eye.

The “more” is science.

The effectiveness of most sticky traps is dependent on being in the insects' flight pattern. A handful of other sticky traps use pheromones to attract the bugs. But several years ago, our scientists set about finding a way to make these traps work better by luring insects with visual cues.

Upon adding an electro-retinogram (ERG) device to our insect research lab, they came up with VisiLure® technology.

Up until 2013, RESCUE! traps used scent-based attractants – either pheromones or feeding scents – to draw insects. We developed these attractants by using an Electroantennagraphic detector (EAD) to measure insects' antennal responses to different smells.

Now, with the ability to scan insect retinas using the ERG machine, we can create adhesive-based traps that lure bugs with sight, rather than scent.

The first RESCUE! product to employ this VisiLure® technology was the TrapStik® for Flies. 

Using the ERG, RESCUE! scientists measured photoreceptor responses in houseflies’ retinas to different wavelengths of visual stimuli. This allowed them to identify the most attractive colors and intensities. Further lab testing and experiments in the field indicated that the color patterns and contrasts mimicking the natural visual characteristics of flies were most appealing.

Flies have large compound eyes that don’t focus, so they see everything as a blurry image. The 3-D pattern and colors on our TrapStik® present an image on which the flies can better focus.

Rounding out our TrapStik® line are the TrapStik® for Wasps, Hornets & Carpenter Bees, and our TrapStik® for Biting Flies.

The science of visual attraction makes them work like no other sticky traps... they're simply eye-catching!