46 



which the path opens/ ' In French West Africa, according to* 

 Roubaud (1230), G. pallicera is, like the members of the G.fusca Group, 

 extremely local and, with occasional exceptions, scarcely to be found 

 outside the limits of the true forest. 



Glossina tachinoides, Westw. In Africa, at any rate (it will be 

 remembered that G. tachinoides has also been found in Southern 

 Arabia), according to various observers, this species appears to share 

 the preference of G. palpalis for the vicinity of water. " Writing in 

 the Sleeping Sickness Bureau Bulletin No. 6 (7th May 1909), p. 210, 

 Dr. A. G. Bagshawe remarks that Glossina tachinoides, ' at least in 

 Nigeria and on the Lake Chad waterways, is confined to river banks, as 

 is palpalis and occurs in large numbers, biting man. It is therefore 

 allied in its habits to palpalis/ .... Dr. Dalziel, writing from 

 Yola Province, Northern Nigeria, states that ' Glossina tachinoides 

 seems to be found only close to the river bank, in sight of water almost, 

 though it may follow along the path. The longest distance to which it 

 was found to follow away from water was 1 ,200 yards (one fly) . . . / 

 In the Western and Northern Provinces of Ashanti, on the Tain and 

 Black Volta Rivers, Dr. A. Kinghorn finds that in habitat and habits 

 G. tachinoides closely resembles G. palpalis, in company with which 

 it always occurs. According to Kinghorn, the present species ' will 

 feed on man with avidity/ and is ' quite active in dull weather and 

 in the very early hours of the morning, both times when Glossina 

 palpalis is usually quiescent/ According to Dr. Alexander, on a river 

 near Amar, in South Bornu, ' Glossina tachinoides bites after dark. 



. . / In Central Dahomey, according to Roubaud, G. tachi- 

 noides is a migratory species, which comes from the north, and 

 ' is present in abundance on the banks of the large watercourses only 

 from May to August, when the rains are at their height and con- 

 siderable changes in the river-systems take place. Its habitat is the 

 same as that of G. palpalis, though it displays a preference for more 

 open wooded tracts, and is not found in the groves of wild paims along 

 the small streams/ Roubaud states that in Dahomey during the wet 

 season, when the air is saturated with moisture, G. tachinoides, palpalis, 

 and longipalpis are all found beyond the limits of their usual haunts, 

 and isolated specimens may be met with in the savannah zone, far 

 from any watercourse" (Austen). 



Dr. Bernard Moiser (101), writing in September 1913, after experience 

 gained during rather more than two years spent in Bornu, Northern 

 Nigeria, states that in that region Glossina tachinoides is " confined to 

 small patches of dense jungle situated along the course of small rivers." 

 He adds that the species is " found in quite localised areas, in close 

 proximity to rivers or marshes, where there is water all the year round, 

 and where the ground is covered with tall shady trees, mostly 

 tamarinds, and thick undergrowth of thorns and creepers, with some 

 ebony trees." 



From an earlier paper by Dr. Moiser (100), dealing with the same 

 locality and species, we extract the following " conclusions." 



" (1) Deep shade and proximity to water appear to be the chief 

 factors determining the localisation of the flies. 



" (2) The natural resting-place of G. tachinoides is on the lower 

 side of twigs and branches of undergrowth, under the shade of large 

 trees, at a height usually not greater than a foot from the ground. 



" (3) They are very restless, and do not usually remain long in one 

 position. 



