The Best Bait & Attractant for Every Common Pest

If you've ever set a trap and watched the pest stroll straight past it, you'll know that the bait is half the battle. Get the attractant right and a simple trap does the heavy lifting; get it wrong and even the best trap sits there ignored. The catch is that what draws in a slug is useless against a moth, and a wasp's tastes change halfway through the summer.

So we've pulled together what actually attracts every common UK pest into one quick-reference guide. Whether you're dealing with mice in the kitchen, slugs in the veg patch or moths in the wardrobe, you'll find the right lure - and the right type of trap - below.

One important truth up front: a handful of pests can't be baited with anything. We'll be straight about which those are, because trying to lure them with food is a waste of time.

Quick Reference: What Attracts Each Pest

Pest	What actually attracts it	How to catch it
Mice	High-fat, sticky foods - peanut butter, chocolate spread	Snap trap, baited on the trigger
Rats	Peanut butter, chocolate or meat - but pre-bait the trap first	Pre-baited snap trap in a bait station
Slugs & snails	Fermentation smell - beer, or a yeast & sugar mix	Drowning trap or damp "collect" lure
Wasps	Sugar water, jam or fruit juice in spring; meat or fish in late summer	Baited wasp trap with a lure
House flies	A little raw meat, sugar water or overripe fruit; UV light for zappers	Lure trap or electric fly killer
Fruit flies	Fermenting fruit - cider or wine vinegar	Vinegar trap with a drop of washing-up liquid
Moths	A species-specific pheromone (not food)	Pheromone sticky trap - match the moth
Mosquitoes	CO2, body heat, skin - no food bait works	Remove standing water; repellents; CO2 traps
Midges	CO2 and warmth - no food bait works	Repellents; avoid still, damp dusk spots
Ants	Sweet baits - sugar syrup or honey - sometimes greasy foods	Bait station carried back to the colony
Cockroaches	Grease, starch and sugar - a dab of peanut butter works well	Food-based gel bait or glue trap
Silverfish	Starchy carbs - flour, paper, glue - and damp	Sticky trap in damp spots
Carpet beetles	Light and pollen (adults); a pheromone lure	Pheromone monitoring trap
Bed bugs	CO2 and warmth from a sleeping host - no food	Interceptor traps; CO2/heat monitors
Fleas	Light and warmth at night - no food bait	Light/heat trap over a sticky pad
Woodlice	Damp and decaying plant matter - e.g. a hollowed raw potato	Damp shelter trap (board or hollowed veg)
Spiders	Other insects (their prey) - they can't be baited	Glue traps along walls; reduce insects

Rodents

Mice

Mice are curious by nature and will investigate a new trap within a night or two, so a strong-smelling, sticky bait does the trick - peanut butter is the classic for good reason, with chocolate spread and seeds close behind. A small amount pressed onto the trigger of a mouse trap is all you need. See our full guide to the 10 best baits for mouse traps for the detail.

Rats

Rats respond to the same high-fat, savoury baits - peanut butter, meat and oily fish all work - but with rats the bait is only half the story. They're far more suspicious of anything new than mice, so the real key is pre-baiting: leaving a rat trap baited but unset for a few nights before you set it. Skip that and even perfect bait gets ignored. Our guide to the best baits for rat traps covers the full method.

Garden Pests

Slugs & Snails

It's the fermentation smell that draws slugs and snails in - which is why beer works, but a homemade yeast, sugar and water mix does the same job for pennies. For a no-drown option, a citrus rind or damp board makes a great "gather and collect" lure.

Flying Insects

Wasps

Wasps are the one pest whose tastes flip mid-season. In spring and early summer they want sugar, so sweet liquids - fruit juice, jam in water, or a dedicated wasp lure - work best. From late summer they switch to hunting protein, so a scrap of meat or fish in the trap suddenly out-performs anything sweet. Match the bait to the season and your wasp trap catches far more.

House Flies

Flies are drawn to protein, sugar and decaying organic matter, so a simple homemade trap baited with a little raw meat, sugar water or overripe fruit plays on exactly that - and lure-based fly traps use the same idea. Indoors, an electric fly killer takes a different route entirely - it draws flies in with UV light rather than bait, which is why it's the better fit for kitchens and food areas.

Fruit Flies

Fruit flies are after fermenting fruit, and you can mimic it perfectly with a little cider or wine vinegar in a cup. Add a single drop of washing-up liquid to break the surface tension so they sink rather than escape. Cheap, and remarkably effective on a kitchen outbreak.

Moths

Here's a common misunderstanding: moths aren't lured with food. The traps that work use a pheromone - a scent that mimics the female moth - to draw males onto a sticky board. Clothes moths and pantry moths use different pheromones, so the key is matching the trap to the moth: a clothes moth trap for wardrobes, a pantry moth trap for the kitchen.

Mosquitoes & Midges

You can't bait a mosquito. They're drawn to the carbon dioxide we breathe out, our body heat and the smell of skin - not food - and they breed in standing water. So control means tipping out standing water around the garden, using mosquito repellents, and, where needed, CO2-based traps that imitate a host. Midges work the same way, responding to CO2 and warmth, so midge repellents and avoiding still, damp spots at dusk do more than any trap bait.

Crawling Insects

Ants

Most ant problems respond to a sweet bait such as sugar syrup or honey, though foraging ants will also take greasy or protein-rich foods at certain times of year. The smart move is a bait station rather than a spray: workers carry the bait back to the nest, which tackles the colony at source instead of just the ants you can see.

Cockroaches

Cockroaches are drawn to grease, starch and sugar, and to warm, damp places to hide. Food-based gel baits and cockroach traps use that appetite against them. Cut off their access to food and water at the same time and the bait becomes the most tempting thing left in the room.

Silverfish

Silverfish feed on starchy carbohydrates - flour, paper, even wallpaper glue - and they love damp. A silverfish trap placed in a humid spot like a bathroom or under a sink, sometimes baited with a starchy crumb, catches them as they forage.

Carpet Beetles

Adult carpet beetles are drawn to light and to pollen on flowers, while the damage is done by the larvae feeding on wool, fur and other natural fibres. A pheromone monitoring trap is the reliable way to confirm and track an infestation rather than relying on a food lure.

Bed Bugs

Bed bugs can't be tempted with food either - they're drawn to the warmth and carbon dioxide of a sleeping person. Interceptor traps placed under bed legs catch them as they travel to feed, and some monitors use a heat or CO2 lure to mimic a host. Bed bugs spread fast, so if they're turning up in more than one room it's worth getting professional help early.

Fleas

A flea trap relies on light and warmth, not food: a small light over a sticky pad draws fleas at night and holds them. A flea trap is best for monitoring and knocking back numbers alongside treating pets and soft furnishings, which is where most fleas actually live.

Woodlice

Like slugs, woodlice are all about damp. They gather under anything moist and dark, so a woodlice trap, a damp board or a hollowed-out piece of veg makes an easy shelter trap you can clear each morning. Reducing damp is the real long-term fix.

Spiders

Spiders are predators, which means there's no bait that works - they follow their prey, not food. The way to deal with them is indirect: cut down the other insects they're hunting, and place glue traps along skirting boards and in corners where spiders run.

Getting the Most From Any Attractant

• Match the trap to the pest. A pheromone is useless against a slug, and beer won't tempt a moth - the table above is your starting point.
• Place traps where the pest already is. Near the damage, the damp, or the route they travel - not in the middle of an open space.
• Refresh bait regularly. Most natural attractants fade after a day or two; a stale trap stops catching.
• Use traps as one layer. Our recommended approach is always to remove food, water and hiding places first, then trap, and only reach for chemical treatments as a targeted, label-led last step.

FAQs

What's the best all-round pest attractant?

There isn't one - that's the whole point. Slugs want fermentation, wasps want sugar then protein, fruit flies want vinegar, and moths respond only to a species-specific pheromone. Match the attractant to the pest using the table above.

Which pests can't be caught with bait?

Mosquitoes, midges, bed bugs, fleas and spiders. They're drawn to heat, CO2 or their prey rather than food, so they need host-mimicking traps, breeding-site removal, or insect reduction instead.

Do I still need a chemical treatment if I'm trapping?

Often not for smaller problems. Trapping, combined with removing food and hiding places, resolves many infestations. Where a chemical is needed, treat it as a targeted, label-led step rather than the first move.

Final Thoughts

The secret to easy DIY pest control isn't a magic bait - it's knowing what each pest is actually looking for, and accepting that a few can't be baited at all. Get the attractant right, place the trap where the pest already is, and pair it with a quick tidy-up, and most common pests are well within your reach.

We go to great lengths to make sure our insect control products and traps are effective, safe and easy to use. Browse the range by pest, or get in touch if you'd like a hand choosing the right one.