GLOSSINA MORSITANS IN NORTHERN RHODESIA. 77 



The two species met with are as follows : — 



(1). This species, taken at Ngoa, is apparently identical with Villa lloydi, Aust., 

 which was taiken in the same locality in 1913. Three specimens of the perfect insect 

 were obtained on this occasion, and its pupa was taken three times in puparia broken 

 in collecting. The pupae were collected in September and the flies emerged in the 

 same month. The pupa figured belongs to this species. 



(2). The second species was taken at Chutika in July, the flies emerging during 

 August. Only two were obtained. It is readily distinguished from the foregoing 

 by the extensive black markings on the wings at the base and along the costal border, 

 and by two conspicuous bands of white hair on the dorsal side of the abdomen. The 

 pupa also is quite distinct, the head tubercles being blunt and conical, whereas in 

 V. lloydi they are sharp teeth.* 



Glossina morsitans feeding on a Bird. 



Nucleated red cells have been found with tolerable frequency in G. morsitans, but 

 up to the present no case has been recorded in which it has been seen feeding on birds 

 in nature. At the Kashitu camp there was in captivity for a few da3^s a young 

 specimen of the ground hornbill, about the size of a turkey. It used to walk about 

 the camp without restraint and on two occasions tsetse were seen settled upon it. 

 In one case there were two flies upon the bare skin of the neck, and one was actually 

 feeding at the time. This bird is a common one, living gregariously in flocks of some- 

 times twenty or more individuals. They feed on insects, lizards and frogs, and are 

 frequently to be seen on the vleis and resting in the trees along the edges. They are 

 very shy, and the difficulty of approaching within a hundred yards of them makes 

 close observation in nature hardly possible. 



Glossina morsitans feeding on Serous Fluid. 



In a series of experiments connected with trj^anosome transmission at Kashitu 

 wild flies were being fed on rabbits. The hair was cut short along the belly, and the 

 flies were being fed in the usual way. On three occasions the flies gorged themselves 

 with clear fluid instead of with blood. The crop was greatly distended by the fluid, 

 which was slowly ingested in the same manner as blood, the crop being empty on the 

 second day after the meal. It is thought that the proboscids of the flies had pierced 

 the body wall and the serous fluid was thus obtained. The observation is less of 

 importance than of interest to the laboratory worker. The behaviour of trypanosomes 

 injected into the abdominal cavity is different in some cases from that when they are 

 injected into the blood stream. 



A Breeding Haunt of Glossina brevipalpis. 



While searches were being made for the pupae of G. morsitans near Chutika, in the 

 Luangwa Valley, a single pupa of G. brevipalpis was found amongst them. It was 

 collected on 28th July, and the fly emerged the following day. The pupa was found 

 in the sandy bed of the Bwobwa Stream, which contained no running water at the 

 time. The banks are very heavily wooded and the stream bed shady. The pupa 



♦[Judging by the description, this species will probably prove to be Thyridanthrax 

 abruptus, Lw. — Ed.] 



