Pheromone traps, what they do and what we stock

February 18, 2025

A trap tells you something. It doesn't fix it

People come in asking for a trap because something is eating the fruit, and the honest answer is that a trap is mostly there to tell you what's flying and roughly how many, so you know when to act and on what. A pheromone lure copies the scent a female puts out, the males come looking for her and end up stuck to the card instead, and what you get out of that is information. You'll catch a share of the males. You won't catch the ones already laying.

That sounds like a knock on traps and it isn't, because timing is most of the battle with a pest that has a short window. Knowing the moths are flying this week rather than guessing is the difference between one well-timed treatment and three that missed.

What we actually carry

There's a lot of pheromone trapping gear made for commercial orchards and very little of it makes it onto a hardware shelf, so here's what's genuinely on ours rather than a list off a catalogue somewhere.

Mediterranean fruit fly trap. The one people ask for most, and the one worth hanging before you think you need it rather than after you cut open a peach.
Insect glue traps. Unbaited yellow cards. They catch whitefly, fungus gnats and a fair bit of whatever else is flying, and they're the cheapest way to find out what's in a greenhouse or a tunnel.
Slug and snail trap, and a 4m snail barrier strip. Not pheromone, but it's the same idea, and the barrier is the one that keeps them off a seedling bed overnight.
Wasp traps and refill bait. For the European wasps around a shed or an outdoor table.

Where to hang it and how often to look

Put the trap in the plant you're worried about rather than on a fence nearby, about head height, and on the side the breeze comes from so the scent carries across the tree instead of away from it. Then look at it every week and write down what you find, because a trap you check twice a season is decoration.

The number matters more than the presence. One moth on a card means they're about. Ten on a card in a week means you're behind.

What a trap won't help with at all

Aphids, caterpillars, snails on a wet night and most of the chewing damage you'll actually see are found by turning a leaf over, not by hanging something up. Check the underside of the leaves once a week and you'll catch nearly everything early, which is when it's a five minute job instead of a weekend.

You can read about this for an hour online and still not know what's on your plant. Or you can put the leaf in a bag, bring it in, and we'll have a look at it with you.

Shop related products

Multicrop EcoPest Oil Insect Spray. Smothers aphids, scale and mites rather than poisoning them.
Brunnings White Oil RTU 1L. Same idea, ready to go, good on citrus.
Multicrop Pyrethrum Long Life Insect Spray 1L. Broad spectrum, so it hits the good insects too. Use it late in the day and only where the problem is.
David Grays Tomato Dust 3-in-1. For caterpillars in the tomatoes, which no trap is going to sort out.

Did you know the traps themselves are in store rather than on the website. The Mediterranean fruit fly trap, the insect glue traps, the slug and snail trap, the snail barrier strip and the wasp traps are all on the shelf and none of them are listed online, so give us a ring on (08) 8536 4333 to check what is there.

Everything else is in the garden centre, and the pest control range is where the sprays live.