Resting site preferences of the tsetse Glossina morsitans submorsitans Newstead (Diptera:Glossinidae) in Mali

Abstract

Resting site preferences of the tsetse Glossina morsitans submorsitans Newstead were studied in a savanna woodland and gallery forest in the Northern Guinea Savanna of Mali. Five site-types [boles, fallen logs, undergrowth ("bushes'), branches and tree canopies] were observed. Flies alighting to rest on these site-types were trapped on tanglefoot. Observations were made in the warm rainy, warm dry and hot dry seasons.Boles were dominant as the preferred resting sites in the savanna woodland in all seasons; fallen logs were the next preferred site-type, while few flies were collected from the undergrowth, branches and tree canopies. Approximately 90% of flies on boles were collected below 1.0 m and none were found above 2.5 m.During the hot dry season in the gallery forest, the undergrowth was the most preferred site-type; unshaded undergrowth accounted for approximately 98% of all flies on the undergrowth. Fallen logs and boles were the next preferred site-types; branches and tree canopies recorded very few flies. Probable reasons for the results obtained and the importance of these results in tsetse control operations are discussed.