Survival and behaviour of tsetse flies (Diptera, Glossinidae) released in the field: a comparison between wild flies and animal-fed and in vitro-fed laboratory-reared flies

Abstract

Male and female Glossina morsitans morsitans Westw. which emerged from puparia produced by animal-fed and in vitro-fed colonies in England were marked distinctively with non-toxic paint and released into a natural habitat of G. morsitans and G. pallidipes Aust. in Rhodesia. Concurrently, adults of both species which emerged from locally-collected puparia were marked and released. Recaptures from artificial refuges, odour attractants and mobile baits at periods up to 59 days after release and at distances up to 1800 m from the release site indicated no clear differences between native G. morsitans and the two laboratory-reared groups in respect of body size, amount of fat present at emergence, survival, dispersal, availability to a range of baits, diet, speed of taking a first meal, wing damage and insemination rate. Although the blood-meal identifications for marked female G. morsitans were similar to those for both sexes of unmarked flies, blood-meals from marked males showed a relatively high proportion of bovid identifications. Unmarked flies caught were generally older than marked catches. The ratio of females to males in unmarked samples (1:1 for G. morsitans, 2:1 for G. pallidipes) was roughly double that in marked catches.

Is the Even Distribution of Insecticide-Treated Cattle Essential for Tsetse Control? Modelling the Impact of Baits in Heterogeneous Environments

“…These results accords with field observations of high percentages of females in catches in poor habitats, e.g. , [29], although before the demonstration that females move more than males [30], [31] it was usually considered that high proportions of females indicated starving populations [32]. Since it was mostly females that diffused from the good to poor habitats, the model's output for the proportion of females in good habitat was slightly lower than the standard 67% if there was poorer habitat within a few kilometres.…”

Field trials of baits to control populations of Glossina morsitans morsitans Westwood and G. pallidipes Austen (Diptera: Glossinidae)

“…Allowing for an emergence rate of about 80% (Vale et al, 1976) and for the fact that males and females emerge in roughly equal numbers (Buxton, 1955), a cumulative total of about 800 adults of each sex and species would have emerged from introduced puparia by the end of November.…”

Mortality rate, reproductive output, and trap response bias in populations of the blowfly Lucilia sericata

“…Other methods rely on somatic changes, such as the accumulation of¯uorescent pigments in the eyes (Mail et al, 1983;Moon & Krafsur, 1995) or of cuticular bands (Neville, 1963;Tyndale-Biscoe & Kitching, 1974). A third group of techniques relates age to mechanical damage, for example wing fray (Jackson, 1946;Vale et al, 1976). Although examination of the reproductive system can provide a precise estimate of physiological age within an ovarian cycle, the number of previous cycles can be dif®cult to deduce from, for example, the accumulation of follicular relics.…”