A fly-killing system is used for pest control of flying insects, resembling houseflies, wasps, moths, Zone Defender gnats, and mosquitoes. 10 cm (four in) across, connected to a handle about 30 to 60 cm (1 to 2 ft) long made from a lightweight material resembling wire, wooden, plastic, or metallic. The venting or perforations reduce the disruption of air currents, Zap Zone Defender which are detected by an insect and permit escape, and in addition reduces air resistance, making it easier to hit a quick-moving target. The flyswatter normally works by mechanically crushing the fly in opposition to a tough surface, after the person has waited for the fly to land somewhere. However, Zap Zone Defender customers may also injure or stun an airborne insect mid-flight by whipping the swatter by the air at an extreme speed. The abeyance of insects by use of quick horsetail staffs and fans is an historic observe, courting again to the Egyptian pharaohs.

The earliest flyswatters have been in fact nothing more than some kind of placing floor hooked up to the end of a long stick. An early patent on a industrial flyswatter was issued in 1900 to Robert R. Montgomery who called it a fly-killer. Montgomery sold his patent to John L. Bennett, a rich inventor Zap Zone Defender and Defender by Zap Zone industrialist who made further enhancements on the design. The origin of the identify "flyswatter" comes from Dr. Samuel Crumbine, a member of the Kansas board of well being, who wanted to lift public consciousness of the well being points attributable to flies. He was inspired by a chant at an area Topeka softball sport: "swat the ball". In a health bulletin published quickly afterwards, he exhorted Kansans to "swat the fly". In response, a schoolteacher named Frank H. Rose created the "fly bat", a gadget consisting of a yardstick attached to a piece of screen, Zap Zone Defender which Crumbine named "the flyswatter". The fly gun (or flygun), a derivative of the flyswatter, makes use of a spring-loaded plastic projectile to mechanically "swat" flies.

Mounted on the projectile is a perforated circular disk, which, based on promoting copy, "won't splat the fly". Several similar products are offered, largely as toys or novelty gadgets, although some maintain their use as traditional fly swatters. Another gun-like design consists of a pair of mesh sheets spring loaded to "clap" collectively when a trigger is pulled, squashing the fly between them. In distinction to the standard flyswatter, such a design can solely be used on an insect in mid-air. A fly bottle or glass flytrap is a passive lure for flying insects. In the Far East, it is a big bottle of clear glass with a black metallic top with a hole in the center. An odorous bait, reminiscent of items of meat, is positioned in the bottom of the bottle. Flies enter the bottle in the hunt for meals and are then unable to flee as a result of their phototaxis conduct leads them wherever within the bottle except to the darker top where the entry gap is.

A European fly bottle is more conical, with small toes that elevate it to 1.25 cm (0.5 in), with a trough about a 2.5 cm (1 in) large and deep that runs inside the bottle all around the central opening at the underside of the container. In use, the bottle is stood on a plate and a few sugar is sprinkled on the plate to attract flies, who eventually fly up into the bottle. The trough is crammed with beer or Zap Zone Defender vinegar, into which the flies fall and drown. Previously, the trough was sometimes filled with a harmful mixture of milk, water, and arsenic or mercury chloride. Variants of these bottles are the agricultural fly traps used to fight the Mediterranean fruit fly and the olive fly, which have been in use for the reason that 1930s. They are smaller, with out ft, and the glass is thicker for rough outdoor utilization, often involving suspension in a tree or bush. Modern versions of this machine are often manufactured from plastic, and can be purchased in some hardware stores.