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Flight behaviour of tsetse flies in thick bush (Glossina pallidipes (Diptera: Glossinidae))

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 July 2009

Quentin Paynter  and
John Brady
Quentin Paynter
Affiliation:
Department of Biology, Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, London, UK
John Brady*
Affiliation:
Department of Biology, Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, London, UK
*
Dr J. Brady, Imperial College, Silwood Park, Ascot, Berks, SL5 7PY, UK
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Abstract

An odour-baited electric net placed in thick bush caught more Glossina pallidipes Austen when sited at ground level (0.2–1.2 m) than when sited in the top of the bush (1.4–2.4 m) or just above it (2.6–3.6 m). However, a similar net running concurrently 4 m away in a game trail through the bush caught far more flies. When electric nets were placed in the centre of two adjacent game trails in this bush and then one of the trails was barricaded with branches from nearby bushes, the catch declined in that trail and increased proportionately in the other. It is inferred that tsetse flies navigate up host odour plumes by finding gaps in thick vegetation rather than by flying over the top or through it, and that game trails are important forms of such gaps. The implications for siting traps and targets are noted.

Type
Original Articles
Information
Bulletin of Entomological Research , Volume 82 , Issue 4 , December 1992 , pp. 513 - 516
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1992

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