38 



l^iTixd ANii Noxious Insects otiiku than Mosquitoes 



The tsetse 



lly 



() 



In this ciiiiiicctidii nnv discovery has to be chnniick'tl. It was made l)y 

 Lt.-(.V>l(iiiel (Jritiith, D.S.O., to Avhom the laboratories suppHed a small eutoiudltigic-d 

 t)iitlit prior to his jouruey up the White Nile. He brought back specimens of 

 \ari(nis insects, and amongst them Glossina morsitans, a species of tse-tse fly, 

 which he captured on the Pongo River, in the Bahr-El-fihazal province, when 

 niai'ching fi'um W'au to Dem Zobeir. He repoi'ted that the fly occinTc<l in great 

 niunbers. This tse-tse is the carrier of the trypanosome of nagana so fatal t 

 horses, donkeys, and certain other domestic animals, and had not pre\iously been 

 reported nearly so far north in these regions, having been encountered near 

 Runbek by the Pcthericks' in 1.S69. This has hitherto constituted its most 

 northerly record. 1 Iduked for, and made careful enquiries about, the tse-tse 

 flies throughout the Nile journey made on the " Amka," but I saw nothing either 

 of Glossina morsitans or G. palpalis. The only inft)rmatiun c)btained was that a fly 

 belt existed about lU miles west of Shambe on the White Nile, and that horses 

 and donkeys passing thi'ough it suffered fi'om sickness. My authority was the 

 very intehigent Egyptian officer in charge of the post. As it is very essential 

 to define correctly the localities in the Sudan which are infested by the fly, and 

 as ^Ir. Austen, the Dipterologist of the British ^luseum was anxious to obtain 

 specimens and information, the laboratories forwarded an entomc^logical outfit to 

 the British Medical Officer in the Bahr-El-Ghazal Pro\'ince with full instructions, 

 a request for notes and sjjecimens, and asking him to make enquiries amongst 

 officials and natives. It is thus hoped to obtain reliable accounts and jilenty vi 

 Biting Diptera n^jtei-i;,] A Complete collection of all the biting flies of the Sudan is much to 

 be desired. Sand flies and owl midges are connnon in Khartoimi and more 

 annoying than mosquitoes, while specimens have been secm-ed of the seroot flies 

 of the Nile. These include species of the genera Talianus and Pangonia, which 

 are very numerous, and whose bites are severe. Mr. Theobald identified amongst 

 the Tabanids, Glossina, etc., brought him by Lt.-Col. Griffith, D.S.O., Tabiinus 

 dorsovittus (Walker) from Kodok, a Stomoxys sp ? and Glossina morsitans horn, the 

 Pongo which were quite typical. Vide Second Report on Economic Zoology, 

 ]). 11.') (Biting horse flies in Central Africa), F. V. Theobald. 



The Hijjpoboscida^,'- so anno^^ng to horses and camels, are represented in 

 Khartomn as are se\Tral other genera, specimens of which have been secured 

 but not yet identified. Dr. Craig of the Egyptian Survey kindly pi'esented a 

 small insect collection made on the White Nile. 



' " Travels in Central Africa," &c., quoted in Austen's Monograph of the tse-tse flies. (Nat. Hist. Brit. Mus.) 



° The species on the camel is ffippobosca camelina L., tlint on the horse H. equina Linn. The dog in Egypt 

 is attacked by //. Caiiis Leach. Probably If. Muculntn L. also occurs on cattle and horses. 



