A flying insect swatter which includes a plurality of cutting elements arranged in a grid-like array. Adjacent cutting elements are spaced apart by a distance less than the wingspan of a flying insect but far enough to permit air to pass freely between the elements without creating an appreciable pressure wave ahead of the cutting head. The cutting elements are adapted to cut insects into pieces which pass between the cutting elements when the head is swung through the air. In the disclosed embodiment, the handle and the head are formed as a unitary structure of flexible plastic material, and the cutting elements have a diamond shaped profile in cross-section.
A method and a fly swatter for practicing the method of killing a fly resting on a support surface without smashing the fly against the support surface, including a swatter having, at the outer end of an elongated handle, a head portion formed of a generally planer, pliable, foraminous sheet having on an inner surface a peripheral lip, including the step of striking, by use of the handle, the head portion to instantaneously encapture the fly between the sheet inner surface and the support surface and within the peripheral lip, compressing air that passes out through the foraminous sheet suddenly forcing the fly against the sheet inner surface, the impact of the fly contacting the sheet inner surface and/or the aerodynamic shock of compressed air serving to kill the fly without compressing the fly against the support surface.
