THE VECTORS OF AFRICAN TRYPANOSOMIASIS: RESEARCH TOWARDS NON-INSECTICIDAL METHODS OF CONTROL

Abstract

The development of systems for colonizing Glossina spp. and for feeding them through artificial membranes has been the basis for an expansion of research on the insects themselves and on flytransmitted strains of Trypanosoma spp. Much of the entomological research has been towards the development of methods of control which avoid the spraying of insecticides, the only effective present approach to control. The sterile insect release method has been evaluated in Tanzania and Upper Volta. A specific contact sex-recognition pheromone is a component of the cuticle of Glossina and field studies have been initiated to determine whether this specificity can be exploited for control purposes. A variety of compounds can interfere with reproduction of laboratory populations of Glossina , but there are difficulties in exploiting these findings in the field. The use of traps and targets impregnated with insecticide offer the most immediate promise of a new approach to tsetse control.