221 



SOxME ENTOMOLOaiCAL OBSERVATIONS MADE BY THE 

 SLEEPING SICKNESS COMMISSION IN UGANDA. 



In a recent part o£ the Proceedings o£ the Royal Society (Series B, no. 588)^ 

 Colonel Sir David Bruce, C.B., F.R.S., and Captains A. E. Hamerton, D.S.O., 

 H. R. Bateman and F. P. Mackie, have published several important papers 

 dealing with the investigations of the Sleeping Sickness Commission of the 

 Royal Society in Uganda. These contain various observations of considerable 

 entomological interest. 



The Natural Food of Glossina palpalis. 



As a result of their experiments upon a large number of these flies in th'ir 

 laboratory at Mpumu, the authors found that G. jjaJjmlis fed with far greater 

 avidity on birds than on monkeys, while they could hardly be tempted to 

 feed on young crocodiles or lizards. From this it was at first supposed that 

 under natural conditions palpalis would feed only on the blood of birds. 

 IIowever_, the microscopical examination of the contents of the alimentary 

 canal of 403 flies yielded the following results : — 



"Two hundred and twenty Glossina palpalis were caught on various parts 

 of the Lake shore, and at intervals extending over several months ; they w^ere 

 examined about 24 hours after capture. The examination of their intestinal 

 contents revealed the fact that about 27 per cent, contained the remains of 

 bloody the majority of which w^as of mammalian origin. [Of the 60 cases 

 in which blood was found, it proved to be mammalian in 20 cases, non- 

 mammalian in 9, and non-recognisable in 31.] 



"In the second experiment, 183 Glossina palpalis were caught at one spot 

 where the food supply was abundant — birds and crocodiles — and the flie» 

 were examined at once. 



" A much higher percentage (nearly 60 per cent.) contained the remains^ 

 of a blood meal. The blood in the majority of the flies had been obtained 

 from birds or reptiles, and of these the reptilian blood was twice as frequent. 

 as the blood of birds." 



In this second experiment the actual number of flies containing blood was 

 108, the character of the blood being unrecognisable in 66 instances ; of the 

 remaining 42, 7 contained mammalian and 35 non-mammalian blood. 



The Carrier of Trypanosoma pecorum. 



The question as to the probable carrier of Tri/jjanosoma pecorinn, w^hich 

 causes a fatal disease in domestic animals, is discussed in another paper by 

 the same authors. 



