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NOTES ON THE OCCURRENCE AND HABITS OF GLOSSINA 



FUSCIPES IN UGANDA. 



By Dk. Robert E. McConnell. 



Medical Officer, Uganda Protectorate. 



When I assumed. dut y in the Nile Province of the Uganda Protectorate, it 

 was known to me that Dr. Shircore had taken a tsetse-fly near Nimule, which he 

 considered to be nearly allied to, but distinct from, G. palpalis. I had been 

 asked to take an early opportunity of examining the haunt of these insects and 

 capturing further specimens. On several occasions I therefore repaired to the 

 site of Dr. Shircore's find, and along some two miles of the bank succeeded in 

 taking a large number of Glossina. These did not appear to differ in any notice- 

 able degree from those one had seen on Lake Victoria, or on the smaller rivers 

 of this Province, and as Dr. Shircore had reported that he had frequently seen 

 the fly in question with the larger palpalis, especially near Nimule, I came to 

 the conclusion that I had been very unfortunate in not taking a single specimen. 



Some time later on returning from an extensive " safari," I read Prof. 

 Newstead's article (Bull. Ent. Res. II, pt. i) on the classification of Glossina by 

 the hypopygial structures, and immediately examined flies representing the 

 various stream-systems of the Province. The specimens were treated in the 

 manner recommended by Newstead (loc. cit.) and mounted in Canada balsam. In 

 each case the structure of the hypopygium was found to correspond (with minor 

 variations to which reference will be made later) to Newstead's new species 

 G.fuscipes. On 6th August I telegraphed to the Principal Medical Officer to 

 this effect. Further flies taken in the neighbourhood of Nimule were subjected 

 to examination and supplied confirmation as to the uniformity of the type 

 prevailing there. 



I went to Wadelai, which is situated in the midst of a sleeping sickness area 

 and where Dr. Shircore believed he had seen the new fly together with palpalis. 

 All, however, agreed, upon examination, with those taken elsewhere in the 

 Province. On 5th September I telegraphed to the Principal Medical Officer to 

 this effect, and submitted that G. fuscipes was presumably a sleeping sickness 

 carrier. 



On the 12th September I received two male specimens of the palpalis group 

 from Lake Edward and on the 28th September others from Lake Victoria. 

 These all conformed to the description of fuscipes, a report to this effect being 

 made. 



It then became evident that all tsetse hitherto designated as palpalis East of 

 the watershed between the great lakes and Nile system on the one hand, and the 

 Congo River system on the other, would, with little donbt, be found to be 

 G.fuscipes. Further than this one could not go as no specimens of the true 

 palpalis from the Guinea Coast were at hand for purpose of comparison. 



Of numerous specimens examined here only one agreed with the small size 

 (7*5 mm.) of the type specimen. The majority were between 8 and 9 mm. in the 

 case of males (average of eight specimens, 8*5 mm.) and between 9 and 10 mm 



