Using Hister BeetlesHISTER HOUSE™ Hister Beetle TrapUnited States Patent Number 5,930,945
JUST ADD WATER– The Hister House™ is constructed to attract Hister Beetles and exclude litter beetles. The trap is a small box filled with bait that is activated by adding water. The beetles enter the trap through a screen that has openings that are too small for the litter beetle to push through but large enough for the Hister Beetle.
USE 100 TO 300 HISTER HOUSES™ per manure pit. These should trap 200 to 600 or more beetles
per trap, yielding 20,000 to 180,000 or more beetles for transfer.
CATCHES CAN AVERAGE 600 BEETLES PER TRAP where beetles are numerous. Up to 2000 hister
beetles have been caught in the Hister House™ over a 24 hour period. Traps will catch less
than a hundred beetles each in manure where there are few beetles. We recommend that traps
not be used when there are less than 20 beetles per square foot.
TRAP AND STORE Collect beetles from manure accumulations prior to clean-out, and store
the beetles until a new manure pile has started to accumulate. Beetles will not be harmed by
two weeks of storage at 50° F. Mortality will be obvious at 10 weeks.
The Hister House was initially developed under USDA SBIR award #95-33610-1487
LAB-REARED ADULT HISTER BEETLES
HISTER BEETLES FOR CLEAN CONDITIONS
Where beetles from another building or another manure are not desirable, lab-reared beetles
are produced in an environment with no birds. IPM Laboratories’ beetle colony is
periodically tested for evidence of Salmonella, and remains Salmonella-negative.
TEN THOUSAND BEETLES PER PIT
An inoculation of 10,000 hister beetles is an effective way to assure colonization of the
manure with hister beetles. Release beetles in small clumps onto every manure pile, as they
do not travel easily between piles.
RELEASE INTO MANURE AT LEAST 3 WEEKS OLD
The beetles need habitat that has both dryness, moisture and food. Do not release into wet
sites.
BEETLES ARE WELL-FED AND READY TO LAY EGGS
The beetle larvae that hatch from these eggs will start consuming fly eggs immediately. The
second generation of adult beetles will be begin to be evident 4 to 6 weeks after initial
beetle introduction at 80°F. The beetle populations will grow very slowly at 60° F.
™ Hister House is a trademark owned by IPM Laboratories, Inc.