The diurnal activity of the chicken-biting black fly,Simulium griseicolleBecker (Diptera, Simuliidae) in Northern Sudan

Abstract

The diurnal flight activity of Simulium griseicolle Becker was determined at Shambat, Khartoum, by means of a suction trap and a vehicle-mounted trap; and the biting activity by means of a chicken-baited trap. Only incidental observations of mammal-biting activity were made. The three trapping methods indicated two peaks of activity, one in the morning and the other late in the afternoon. Fly activity was lowest in the early afternoon when temperature and light intensity were highest, wind speed was moderate and relative humidity was least. Females outnumbered males in all the catches, except in the early morning when more males were sometimes recorded.

Species composition and cyclical changes in numbers of savanna blackflies (Diptera: Simuliidae) caught by suction traps in the Onchocerciasis Control Programme area of West Africa

“…In S. evillense, periodicity was bimodal on three days and unimodal on the other days, when (except on one day) most flies were caught in the early morning. S. griseicolle caught with suction and vehicle traps on the Sudanese Nile showed bimodal curves with weekly totals, which, as with the present data, mask the diel curves (El Bashir et al, 1976). None of the species in the OCP traps showed a unimodal periodicity with the peak in the middle part of the day, such as Hansford & Ladle (1979) reported for S. austeni (now a synonym of S. posticatum) from their use of a suction trap in England.…”

“…As far as we know, the only prior uses of suction traps for blackflies in Africa are those of El Bashir et al (1976) and J. Bowden (unpublished) for studying the activity of S. griseicolle Becker in the Sudan. Data for suction-trapping of simuliids in other areas are also scanty.…”

“…Data for suction-trapping of simuliids in other areas are also scanty. Service (1977) recently reviewed the sampling methods that have been used to study Simuliidae, and, except for the work of El Bashir et al (1976), could find only two published references; these were to the work of Williams & Davies (1957) and Williams (1965) who used a suction trap as an adjunct to lighttraps for sampling blackflies in Scotland. The only later reference seems to be that of Hansford & Ladle (1979), who studied the diel activity of S. (Simulium) austeni Fig.…”

Circadian flight activity ofSimuliumspp. (Diptera: Simuliidae) sampled with a vehicle-mounted net in central Nigeria

“…), a method which is potentially most likely to trap both sexes of the flies and females in all physiological conditions is clearly required. Such a method is the vehicle-mounted net used successfully in England (Davies & Roberts, 1973) and to a minor extent in northern Sudan (El Bashir et al, 1976). Hence in the present study, a vehicle-mounted net was used to investigate more closely the possible differences in the circadian flight activity within and between species.…”

Seasonal Activity of Female Black Flies (Diptera: Simuliidae) in Pastures in Northeastern Saskatchewan

“…The seasonal abundance of black flies changed significantly (P<0.001) from year to year (Fig. Diurnal peaks in activity also were documented for other black fly species (Bashir et al 1976;Bellec and Hebrard 1983;Ammo 1984;Choe et al 1984;Shipp et al 1987). In 1986 highest numbers were recorded between the weeks of 8 June and 6 July (5.4 k 1.3 to 7.7 + 3.2 per trap per week), in 1987 the highest numbers were recorded the week of 23 August (33.2 + 23.4 per trap per week), when sampling was discontinued, and in 1988 highest numbers were collected the week of 22 May (9.02 2.4 per trap per week).…”