Need a flytrap, Mr Obama?

A Chinese man known as “Lord of the Flytraps” has sent his patented ultrasonic invention to US President Barack Obama, who recently killed a fly on TV, so that the American leader can catch flies “hygienically.”

"It is not hygienic for President Obama to swat a fly with his hand,” said Hu Xilin, a well-known Chinese businessman, according to Xinhua news agency. “The machine can catch the insect alive automatically."

President Obama recently swatted a fly to death during a TV interview. The incident drew broad media attention, as well as a critical statement from the animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).

It was through PETA that Hu Xilin sent the flytrap to the US president.

Hu's invention, which was patented by the China State Intellectual Property Office in 2007, has a motor, and can trap flies with organic bait and an ultraviolet lamp.

It is also reported that the man sent hundreds of the machines for free to help catch flies in disease-plagued regions in Japan, Congo and Vietnam.