Some advances in the trapping of tsetse (Glossina spp.) and other flies

Shortcomings in the methods of testing mechanical traps for Glossina spp. and other flies were partially overcome by relating the efficiency of all traps to that of electric trapping devices that had been shown to capture over 95% of tsetse flies approaching them. Various types of trap used in Rhodesia, both new and previously described, are described in detail and illustrated, and their efficiency is compared; the most effective were vertical vane traps of several kinds. The classical ’animal-type’ traps caught only a small percentage of the tsetse that approached them; the addition of ox odour increased the number of flies visiting the trap but not the number caught. Changes in trap design increased their efficiency 4-5 times. The addition of large quantities of ox odour increased the efficiency of the most effective of the vertical-vane traps as well as the absolute number of flies taken; the odour of livestock (oxen, sheep, goats, donkey and a buffalo) having a total mass of 11.5 t enabled 2000 adults of G. morsitans Westw. and G. pallidipes Aust. to be caught in 3 h. None of the described traps was particularly suitable for tabanids, but some were used to trap large numbers of biting muscids. The implications for new methods of tsetse control are discussed.