XVl] GLOSSINA TACHINOIDES 253 



Glossina tachinoides Westwood, 1850. 



Synonyms. G. palpalis var. tachinoides Austen, 1903. G. decorsei 

 Brumpt, 1904. 



Description. Glossina tachinoides is one of the smallest of 

 the known tsetse-flies, the length of the female being from 

 6-8 to 8"4 mm. and of the male 6*0 to 675 mm. Among those 

 species having all the tarsi of the hind-legs dark, it may easily 

 be recognised by its small size and its very distinctly banded 

 abdomen. On the dorsum of the second segment of the 

 abdomen there is a median quadrate pale area, which is very 

 conspicuous and is one of the distinctive characters of the 

 species. 



Distribution. G. tachinoides is widely distributed through- 

 out West Africa having been recorded from the Senegal to the 

 French Congo, including Gambia, Gold Coast, the Northern 

 Territories, Togoland, French Guinea, Ashanti, German Came- 

 roons, and Nigeria, where it is especially abundant in the north. 

 In addition the species occurs in the French Sudan, on the shores 

 of Lake Chad, and has been recorded from Southern Arabia 

 and German East Africa. According to Neave, the tachinoides 

 recorded from the last named locality may prove to be 

 G. austeni, Newstead. 



Bionomics. G. tachinoides closely resembles palpalis in its 

 habits, being found in the vicinity of water, especially along the 

 banks of rivers. It generally prefers rather more open wooded 

 tracts than palpalis and is not found in the groves of wild 

 palms along the small streams. According to Simpson, the 

 species is most abundant where the country is open, vegetation 

 sparse, the dry season well-defined and the rain-fall slight. 

 It is the predominant tsetse-ily occurring along the rivers in 

 the region bordering on the Sahara and seems to have come 

 from the north. 



Dr Alexander, in Northern Nigeria, found tachinoides in a 

 large marsh consisting of elephant grass, with occasional 

 clumps of palm trees and thick undergrowth, though he failed 

 to find the fly on the banks of a river about three quarters of a 

 mile away. 



