The night resting sites of the tsetse fly Glossina palpalis palpalis (Robineau-Desvoidy) (Diptera, Glossinidae) in northern Nigeria

Abstract

The night resting sites of Glossina palpalis palpalis (R.-D.) were observed in a riverine swamp at Bara, Bauchi Emirate, northern Nigeria. The flies were marked with an ultra violet reflecting paint and released at dusk. They were detected with the aid of an ultra violet light beam. Most of the flies (72%) rest on leaves (50% on the upper sides) and on small twigs and creepers (20·2%). The average resting height was highest in the mid-rains (3·78 m), dropped in the late rains (2·95 m) and was lowest (1·52 m) in the dry season.The resting site heights ranged from ground level up to 18 m. Females were found to rest slightly higher than males and when the moon shone both sexes had a tendency to perch higher. It was shown that the night resting behaviour of G. palpalis is favourable to the application of residual insecticide deposits from the air because most of the spray drops are deposited on leaves.