Katchy Plug-in Insect Trap

This review is specifically for the Katchy Duo 2 in 1 (because Amazon combines reviews for similar products but you need to know for an exact one.) For the last few years since I had moved into my apartment. Every summer (It can get over 90F and 100F here) specifically about a couple weeks into summer and carries on until it starts getting cold outside in the fall and the insects die out because of the cold. I get these annoying little Fungus Gnats, or as I call them the drunken idiot of the Gnat species since they can't seem to fly a straight line and randomly bump into everything. But they especially love to hit you in the mouth and eyes. They are worse right after a rain. I think they are coming in through small cracks under the door as I think the pine tree needles around my apart are part of the reason they are so bad here since I do not have any plants in my apartment. I deliberated for a couple of summers about buying something like this because $50 is not cheap. The first couple of summers I tried every home remedy trick I could find. From apple cider in a jar with plastic wrap, to sticky fly catchers hanging in several places one in the room with me. I even tried spraying bug killer around my apartment entrances. All of this to no avail. Nothing seemed to work. These tiny pests make you want to rage as they constantly hit your eyes and land in your drink (I literally had to stop using a cup to drink from and had to start using a sealed container.) I was always getting angry as they hit me in the face every few minutes. So this summer just a couple weeks ago as it started. I decided it's time to give this a try. I had very little expectation this would actually work for Fungus Gnats as there aren't very many people mentioning their effectiveness. And it's the only bug that seems to get into my apartment aside from the occasional fly and spider. I thought, well this is likely a waste of money but nothing else seems to work. Wow, was I wrong. It is incredibly rare that will buy something I think is expensive and assume it won't work all that well. Only to be so incredibly happy with how well it works. While yes it does not catch every single gnat right away as new ones find their way into my apartment. They don't fly around long before making their way into this bug catcher. As for how loud it is. I would say on the lowest setting it is quite than my gaming PC fan. In a totally quiet room with nothing else running you can hear it. But it's quite enough that it is easy to ignore. On the highest setting, it's only slightly louder. But still, nowhere near that of a PC fan under load. I was leaving it on automatic setting so that it was only on at night and when I am not home (blackout curtains in the room it's in). But on my days off I set it to manual and leave it on. In the picture, I am adding. You can see the sticky trap on the first night, one week later, and 2 weeks later. To think all of those gnats would be constantly hitting you in the face if they were left to fly around in your home. After using it for 2 weeks now. I can not overstate how well I like this product and how well it works. It is definitely worth the money if you have an issue with Fungus Gnats every year like I do. As for how long this product will last or how long it takes for the fan bearing to wear and become louder. Only time will tell. If you are like me and are looking for something to help get rid of these pesky rage-inducing nuisances but were having trouble finding a review that explains how well it works for this pest. Then look no further as I hope my review helps you. And no, I am not a paid reviewer, nor was I given this. I try to be frugal which is why it took so long for me to risk spending money on something like this.

7 days later update: flies are nearly gone in the house! We think we found the source in my son’s room so I’m sure that had a lot to do with it, but catching fewer every day and hardly any flying around. Been running on auto mode only last 3 days. The Duo came with 4 traps which I was changing daily until the last one I left until today. Their replacements said product size 4.3 inches on the listing so those the replacements I bought, but they are too big. IMO their replacement glue traps are too expensive - looks like they are actually 3.4”. I just cut down the larger ones since I already had one, and I also have the yellow butterfly shaped ones for houseplants I saw others use before I get more. I did try without soap in the bait cup and noticed specks of wine on the top of the bait cup - wondering if that’s from little fly feet dipping in and landing when it’s off so I went back to using soap. Does work slightly better putting the bait cup on after filling and then putting on the lid but it spins a little. You have to really press and twist to get it on but the sides are high enough that it seems hard to spill anyway. Overall still very happy with the purchase and glad we got in white to stay out in our kitchen. Original: Overall, I’m satisfied with this purchase. I was skeptical of some of the others I looked at - one was more expensive and had a ton of reviews that were all 5 stars so I was skeptical and skipped that one. Others didn’t have the bait cup, auto mode, and/or only came in black. I also wanted one with a more universal size and shape for the sticky traps so I wasn’t limited to more expensive replacements. We are dealing with fruit flies that probably came in with the garden vegetables over the summer and recently multiplied with kids leaving dishes and cans in their bedrooms. We started about 5 days ago putting bowls out with apple cider vinegar and some dawn dish soap. They were definitely attracted to them, but there was a disappointing number of fruit flies around the edges of the bowls and on the cabinets and lamps nearby instead of in the liquid. Dumping them out the next morning we got more than I expected, but seeing some around the edges creeped me out so I got this and it came the next day. I like that this one has the bait cup so you have more than just the light to attract them. Others I looked at said to put a capful of vinegar next to the device to attract them but I question how it would trap them if it’s on the counter at base level when the fan and suction are at the top. This arrived in the middle of the day so I immediately filled the bait cup with some old Christmas wine and dawn dish soap (not sure it has to be dawn, that’s just what we had). By 5pm there was a satisfying number of fruit flies on the sticky trap. We turned off the lights and put it in auto mode in the kitchen overnight - I don’t think we got many more than we had already. I changed the trap and by the afternoon it was about as full as the day prior. Not like I counted them so there may have been more, but makes me think that even though the trap wasn’t full, there’s a limit to either the effectiveness of the sticky trap or the bait. I refreshed both today. We’ve used this product for 2 nights now and the fruit flies are noticeably and significantly reduced. While I doubt that this device is solely responsible, I think it’s better than watching them on the edges of the bowls and not going in. It was satisfying to see one of the edge of the light I went to squish and when it tried to take off it got sucked into the fan. It’s not 100% perfect but still giving 5 stars because I feel it’s better than the comparable options I was looking at. Most are black and I wanted white for our kitchen - I have a garden and plants and we plan to leave this on auto mode to use nightly on a regular basis. I also chose it for the bait cup - seeing how crazy they went for the apple cider vinegar and wine we tried in the bowls we wanted to keep using that. It came with only a handful of traps and this brand’s replacements appear to be expensive. They say they last long but I’m changing daily right now while we are dealing with the problem. As there gets to be fewer caught, I can see going longer between but probably not months. I bought another brand’s 4.3 round traps - there are a lot of inexpensive options. I haven’t used yet but appear they will work. There was another device like the katchy I looked at that had a triangular base and I didn’t see as many options for replacements so I avoided that one. I wish the lip to pull out the sticky trap tray was a little taller - it’s low to the counter so you have to tip the device back a bit to get under it and pull it out - makes me worried I’ll spill the bait cup that sits on top but haven’t yet, just have to be careful not to tip too much. When pulling out the sticky trap, some fruit flies flew out of the base so they aren’t getting 100% driven into the trap and stuck. When I turn on the Kitchen lights in the morning, I am switching it to manual mode to keep the fan going while we deal with the problem. While I think it only catches a little bit more than the bowls we were using, we aren’t seeing the significant number of flies nearby hanging out. That could be just because the numbers are being reduced after several days of working at this, but it’s nice to see. The fan definitely sucks them down when they get close so there aren’t many nearby. I had read one review that the bait cup is a little difficult to open and close, and I agree. There are three little internal tabs. You have to press on the lid and sort of twist to get it to stay. The bait cup itself is small - it says to only put a tablespoon of liquid in there. What’s nice is that the lid has holes, so nothing is getting in the cup. The dish soap created a bubble on top when I took off the lid - my understanding, the dish soap is to break the surface tension on the liquid so the bugs can’t get out. Not sure what the point is of using the soap if the holes are so small the bugs can’t get in so I may stop using the soap. Yesterday I left the bait cup on the device and just removed the lid to top off the wine in and I spilled a couple drops on the fan. Didn’t seem to be a huge deal so I just left it but there’s always a worry about liquids and electronics. This morning I took the bait cup off to dump and rinse and then refilled on the counter. The best way to get the lid on and off is to pick it up and hold the cup in one hand and the lid and the other and twist together, but you don’t want to do that when it’s full. Because the bait cup is tapered and not very tall, and the edge of the lid is very short, it’s harder to get a grip to hold the cup still so you can put the required pressure on the lid to twist it. When we first got this, it seemed like you had to rock the bait cup to get it seated, but now it’s more of a firm press straight down. I think I’ll take it off to rinse and fill it, and then put the bait cup back on the device so it’s holding the cup in place while i put on the lid. The wine I’m using is red and it doesn’t appear to be staining the white plastic, even where I spilled it. Even if it does, it’s not seen from the outside. Auto mode works very well - comes on instantly with low light. I like that you can adjust both the fan and light levels. I don’t think this device will solve the problem by itself, but any pest probably you have to attack with multiple approaches. We made the kids deep clean their rooms, put sticky traps in the house plants (although they don’t seem to be around them), and we aren’t leaving fruit on the counter right now. Hasn’t been a week yet but the numbers are going down each day and hopefully the issue won’t be noticeable in a few more days. We will probably keep using this on auto mode in the kitchen nightly as preventive maintenance - it’s also supposed to work on mosquitos which we get in the kitchen as it’s right near our main entrance and has 2 other doors to outside we use in the summer.

Katchy Duo Machine is easy to set up. NOTE: I've done a ton of research on gnats. Read how I've taken back control of my plant!!! I rated each category 1 to 5. 1 being WORST and 5 being EXCELLENT Bottom tray slids out easily. Sticky trap is sticky and catches what lands through the machine. 4/5 Not many, but some will escape. Bait Bowl is easy enough. It has 2 tiny notches that line up to verify its closed. *like a medicine bottle* In bright light, it's easy to see. I marked a silver permanent marker on the lines to see easier. I use apple cider vinegar and a drop of dish washing soap. 4/5 Light (as shown in Pic) is quite bright in complete darkness to attract flies. I only use highest setting. 5/5 Fan could be stronger. I only run it on highest fan setting. I'm trying to catch them! I don't have a severe case of gnats but enough to know I need something to keep them at bay. 4/5 Auto vs Manual Setting - Auto will turn machine on when there's no light in the surrounding area. During day, it's off. Towards the evening it turns back on. Manual - You have to remember to turn on and off. The machine is not meant to run for 24hrs a day. I did for a week straight with no issues. Now it's on Auto since I'm weening out remaining Gnats. Please keep in mind, I no longer have a severe case of gnats due to a combination of effort. LIFE CYCLE At 75ºF, eggs hatch in about 3 days, the larvae take approximately 10 days to develop into pupae, and about 4 days later the adults emerge. A generation of fungus gnats (from female to female) can be produced in about 17 days depending upon temperature. To kill them and their cycle - ** I use 4 sticky traps ** another vinegar trap ** I've extended watering my Mass Cane plant to help dry out soil. Over watering allows the adult gnats to have a proper breeding ground for their larvae. ** Everyday I've cleaned up the surrounding area. Vacuum and lysol'd all surfaces. Not the plants! ** Katchy Duo machine to attract and catch remaining adult gnats. Very Good Product! ** Another idea is taking out 2-3 inches of soil. Replace with new soil. Add a quarter inch to a half inch of sand on top of the soil to do the trick. Will help remove larvae and allow water to drain through sand, dry quickly and moisten soil. It's been 4 days, and I'm not getting attacked by those pesty gnats! I barely see any flying around. Update: 4/11/23 I've successfully have rid of all gnats. It worked so well, I've put unit away until I need it again. Good Luck on your Bug killing battle!! Click LIKE if this helps you :)

So, I don't review much at all. But I felt I had to say something about this Katchy Duo Indoor trap. I've purchased previous similar products and felt it was a waste of money. However, this works really well. I bought this because I was getting tired of gnats floating in my beer and just overall flying around. I live in AZ and the Phx area. You would think we wouldn't have this problem, but I have a lot of citrus and it does occasionally get humid here. With that context, I can say yes, we get the bugs of the flying variety :). We keep our house clean and free of standing water, so we are perplexed as to why we have so many annoying gnats, flies and moths. Well, it's because in the winter, we mostly keep our windows and house open. Screen doors and windows only do so much before you get flying pests. So even though I've had poor experiences with similar products, I felt the need to try something. I'm really glad I landed on this Katchy Duo. You get a two-pronged approach with the light and the liquid scent pod. I just set mine to auto and it adjusts the light and fan to the appropriate conditions so you're not wasting resources. When I first got it, it says to use apple cider vinegar, but I didn't have any. So, I knew they liked my beer, so I looked it up, and if you don't have that use an IPA or stout beer instead. I eventually got the apple cider vinegar, but I could not find any difference in results. This two-pronged approach really does work. I like this so much I purchased another one for better coverage. Yes, it's a tad pricey, but I think it's worth it. I attached a pic which I was still amazed that it did so well, but prior to this there were larger bugs such as moths and house flies. I will say it takes house flies longer to figure it out, but eventually I got the one that was really annoying.

Look at the many photos of how many flies and gnats are attached the sticky boards. I have two. First bought, the shorted out by water getting on the PCB board attached vertically on the side. maybe it was also the flies. Taken apart and with multimeter tried to troubleshoot and could not get it two work. So I bought a second one and kept is away from the kitchen (not happy but did not want to short it out, too. After second purchase and running awhile, I was determined to continue to try to fix the first. at least figure out the circuits and create a schematic. This time I managed to get it to work. only the fan would not adjust speed and worked only an manual. That's OK for me. I cleaned the board with 99% iso alcohol, and covered the PCB with Kapton tape and put it back into service. The one in the kitchen did not do very well katchy the flies, so I created a kind of DIY vortex with aluminum foil, see photos. It increase the brightness reflecting on the foil and works great! With the Kapton tape, I no longer have an issue shorting out the PCB board The second I repeatedly kept knocking off onto the floor and the upper light ring brok. It would not snap back on. Looking at the photo, I glued it back on with some heavy duty glue and taped it firmly secure until the glue dried. Now the sticky boards fill up with flies, the black one despite having an air scrubber directly above the Katchy. So the negative issues: 1. get water inside you may short out the PBD board. Solution DIY fix 2. In some instances the flies will fly right over and not get sucked in. Solution create a DIY vortex above the Katchy 3. Repeated dropping may pop the upper part of the light ring and will not snap back on. Solution glue back on with clamps, (or tape.) 4. Block the outer edges of the liguid cup, or the vinegar being acidic will get drawn down fast and get onto the PCB board. Solution tape or cover the outer holes. 5. don't try to save money and make your own DIY honey sticky board. in my case it just did not work and extra sticky boards are inexpensive. Both mine have been running no-stop for over a year and they catch fruit flies, gnats and even the house flies. I am happy with them, however you may have to do some DIY modifications, (Aluminum vortex and covering the outer edges of the liquids cup if using vinegar. And if fails or breaks some DIY skills will put them back into service

Even in Southern California with leaving the bedroom completely sealed all day and night we would still wake up covered in bites. Or be unable to sleep due to the buzz of mosquitos. With the lowest fan and light setting we were able to catch almost 30 of the little bloodsuckers in just under two weeks. After that it stays on auto(turning on at night only) and we may catch one every two weeks. Completely wiped out our mosquitos in the bedroom problem. Also caught some fruit flies, an aphid(plants in the room), a few moths of various types and the one random beetle. The cap for the scent trap as one reviewer on youtube put it is not difficult to operate. It's not a snap on, it's a twist lock and has indicators molded on the side. It's very easy once you realize that. We use a cotton ball on the inside to prevent spills. The noise of the fan isn't too bad as we usually have a fan, humidifier and or AC unit on. The UV light is a mixed bag. On the one hand you can't see through your eyelids when you try to go to sleep, and it's a nice night light to get out of bed for the occasional midnight bathroom break or snack( where my snack people at?). On the other hand, even on the lowest setting it will light up the room and anything UV reactive, especially if you have white sheets or blankets. Which on our personal annoyance scale is maybe a 3 out of 10(10 being unbearably annoying). Even though I consider myself very light sensitive especially when it comes to bed time, so much so that I tape all LEDs, I don't mind the black light. Red or deep amber/orange lights are ok but anything leaning towards blue or white is a no go for me. We can sleep through the 70s lightshow just fine. Bottom line. If you have a home mosquito problem and have tried everything to stop the biting, try this. I've hiked through the Sierra Navada Mountains in peak mosquito season twice and lived in the south so I understand mosquitos and I HAAAAAAATE mosquitos. But they love me. I HIGHLY recommend this product. Update. 10-15-2023. Still in love with this thing. Our kitchen, indoor plants, and garage that leads to the backyard are all right next to eachother in 800sqft and this captures all the little flying critters that bite us and our plants and hover around our food and trash. Edit: Oct 2024. It has been running nonstop since day of delivery and house is still bug free. Update Aug 2025 : My unit has been running on high fan and high light settings practically non stop(we moved, tripped a breaker, and I cleaned it once) for over 3 years now. Not one single issue or failure with the device. It has been completely covered in grease as it was running in the kitchen for awhile and after cleaning it still looks brand new. No weird light flickering. No funky fan noises. Nothing. Nada. It's been perfect this entire time helping catch indoor plant insects and mosquitoes like an absolute unit. 5 stars

Don’t expect to catch a lot of pests in one night, this is an effective tool but takes alot of time to truly do the job it’s designed to do, my iPhone 14’s screen draws nats, flys, and Miskitos much more effectively than the light on the tool

I was having a terrible time with fruit flies, gnats, and drain flies. I tried some of the various fruit fly traps and baits but they really did not do very much to reduce the problem. I was looking around and discovered the Katchy Duo 2-in-1 Insect Trap and decided to give it a try. I am so glad I did because it really works! It is very simple to set up and use EXCEPT for filling the liquid bait capsule on top. The instruction booklet just directs that it be filled with a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar and a drop of dish soap. The problem arises in trying to open the capsule and it is even worse to close the top and lock it in place (I am a senior citizen so my eyesight and hand strength are as good as they once were). To open the capsule, the top needs to be rotated about 3/8ths of an inch counter clockwise. To put the cap back on, it is very hard to see how position the top so it will go back on the capsule enabling it to be locked in place. After much frustration and spilled vinegar, I finally noticed there were tiny protrusions on the side of the top and on the side of the base of the capsule. They were very hard to see as I did not know to look for them. Once I found them, I marked them with a silver permanent marker that makes them easy to find and use. As can be seen in the photos (sorry for the poor quality), when taking the top off, hold the base steady and gently twist the top counter clockwise 3/8ths of an inch and then lift the top off. To put it back on, line up the marks and rotate the top clockwise 3/8ths of an inch. It is recommended to use the Katchy Duo in automatic mode. This will turn the Katchy on when the room is dark (this is the most effective time to attract and capture the files). The device is not designed to run 24 hours per day. If you do that, the units lifespan would be significantly reduced. The device works by attracting the flies (with the apple cider vinegar) and when the flies arrive, they are sucked in and blown down to the bottom of the Katchy where they are trapped by very sticky board. When the sticky board is full, simply replace it. I use the highest setting for both the light and the fan. For best results, the bait capsule should be refilled with apple cider vinegar and a drop of dish soap es needed. I have found that it needs to be rinsed and recharged every three days. The device will work if you do not refill it regularly but it will not be any where near as effective.

The product looked pretty well made, but UK buyers beware! It comes with a totally useless Chinese/ USA plug! So I've had to order an adaptor plug that is suitable for the UK, very poor! If I order electrical items for the UK I expect they are delivered with a compatible charger.

Le principe de l'appareil est d'attirer les incestes par sa lumière et l'appât que l'on place dans la petite capsule prévue. La bonne nouvelle c'est que la viande avariée et la grenadine qu'on place dedans ne sent pas quand elle pourri : c'est dû je pense au ventilateur qui aspire l'air (à vérifier). Photo des incestes capturés Ce qui est OK c'est que les insectes sont attirés, sauf que les mouches s'échappent sans problème, l'aspirateur n'est franchement pas assez fort. En mettant "tout à fond", c'est un peu plus efficace, mais ça reste juste. Mais là ça devient franchement bruyant (voir la vidéo)

This is an absolute life saver for our old farm house We live on an orchard so the fruit flies come out and every year we go to battle This this allows me to turn it on and catch them all night Works WONDERS it’s pretty gross to look at them all stuck to the tray in the morning lol definitely order more pads when you buy but I just got the knock off ones that fit and they work perfectly - just check sizes ! No more using cups with mixtures to catch them Use the little spot and stick fruit in to attract and clean it out in the morning We love love love this 10/10 recommend

Ik kan het niet direct gebruiken wat er zit een 12 volt adapter bij met een US stekker. Dat verwacht je niet voor een product dat je gewoon in de EU besteld!

very ineffective with house flies. killed only 7 in the span of 48 hours. way too expensive for what it is.