i07 



ON THE GENITAL ARMATURE OF THE MALES OF 



GLOSSINA MEDICORUM, AUSTEN, 



AND GLOSSINA TABANIFORMIS, WESTWOOD. 



By Robert Newstead, M.Sc, A.L.S., &c. 



Since the publication of my paper dealing with the taxonomic characters of 

 the genital armature of the males of all the then known species of tsetse-flies* 

 Mr. E. E. Austen has very kindly allowed me to examine a paratype of his 

 Glossina medicorum ; and Mr. Guy A. K. Marshall, on behalf of the Entomo- 

 logical Research Committee (Tropical Africa), has submitted to me the specimen 

 of G. tahaniformis, Westwood, upon which Mr. Austen based his re-descriptionf 

 of the male of this species. I am extremely indebted to these gentlemen for 

 giving me the opportunity of making a microscopical examination of these insects, as 

 thereby it has enabled me to complete my observations on the male ai'mature of 

 the tsetse-flies, and also to complete the set of drawings illustrative of the main 

 morphological characters of these organs. 



The examination has revealed the fact that the superior claspers {sc in both 

 figures) are free as in other members of the ^'■fusca group" (Newstead, I.e.) but 

 in other respects, especially in the form of the harpes, they are markedly distinct ; 

 and these organs alone will serve as a ready means of identification : those of 

 G. tahaniformis, being unusually complex, while those of G. medicorum are 

 extremely simple. Apart from the structural character of the armature of the 

 males, both sexes in G. medicorum may be distinguished by the shortness of 

 the lateral branches of the hairs of the arista. 



I do not propose in this communication to place these tsetse-flies in their 

 relative positions in the synopsis which has already been published in the Bulletin, 

 as, since the publication of Mr. Austen's most excellent " Handbook of the 

 Tsetse-flies," this is quite unnecessary. 



I may here add, in connection with this subject, that I have recently examined 

 a single male Glossina palpalis, which was captured by Dr. Allan Kinghorn in 

 N.E. Rhodesia, and have found that the superior claspers of this specimen are 

 not specifically identical with those found in the Gambia and elsewhere on the 

 West Coast of Africa. As the microscopical preparation of the armature is not 

 in a perfect state of preservation, I cannot yet add any further particulars ; but 

 as far as I can judge at present, I believe it to be representative of a distinct race. 



* Bull. Ent. Res., Vol. II., p. 9, 1911. 



t Handbook of the Tsetse-flies, p. 83, 1911. 



