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NOTES ON THE HAUNTS AND HABITS OF GLOSSINA 

 TACHINOIDES, NEAE GEIDAM, BORNU PROVINCE, 

 NORTHERN NIGERIA, 



By De. Bernard Moiser, W.A.M.S. 



The following notes are presented in the simple form in which they were jotted 

 down at the time, as it seems to me that this will be the best way to give a clear 

 idea of what was observed. 



On 3rd Nov. 1911, I received native information as to the presence of tsetse- 

 flies at Bellaram, about 4-J miles S.W. of Geidam, North Bornu. I therefore 

 sent out a man the next day to catch some of the flies and he returned the same 

 evening with four specimens of Glossina tachinoides. On 6th Nov. I went to the 

 place to investigate the haunts and habits of. the flies. 



The country generally is flat and sandy, with clay on the surface in parts, the 

 subsoil being clay and white sand. The River Wobe runs a tortuous course in a 

 broad valley about 1-J miles wide, with marshes on either side, which vary 

 greatly in extent. In the drier portion of the valley there are shady trees in 

 parts, with open spaces covered with long grass at this time of the year, while 

 here and there occur patches of dense jungle, with thick undergrowth and 

 twining creepers. It was in one of these thick patches of jungle that I found 

 the flies to be located. The accompanying map (plane table) shows the position 

 and surroundings of the " belt." 



The "Bulama" (headman) of the village of Bellaram, about If miles distant 

 from the belt, says that the flies have existed in this spot ever since he was 

 born (about 30 years). He says they are confined to the thick bush, and only 

 occasionally leave it. He knows of the case of one man, a constant grower of 

 onions in the " kurimi " (the patch of dense bush), and consequently much bitten 

 by the tsetse-flies, who died after about a year's illness, during the last 8 or 

 9 months of which the man "did nothing but sleep." He was awakened for 

 food, and then immediately went to sleep again. This history seems strongly 

 suggestive of a case of sleeping sickness. 



Also, two men, of about 60 years of age, from the same village, say that the 

 flies have existed in the kurimi during the whole of their lifetimes, and that their 

 fathers had told them that the flies have always been there. They say that the 

 tsetses are more numerous in the kurimi in the dry weather, when there is little 

 water in the river, from February to June, They explain this by saying that in 

 the wet weather when the " fadama " (open marshy land) is covered with long 

 rank grass the flies come out of the kurimi and enter the grass, where a few can 

 sometimes be found. When dry, the grass is always burnt, and so, for want of 

 cover, the flies retire to the kurimi. 



On the map will be seen the village of Dama 3 on the opposite side of the 

 valley, but only about 400 yards from the nearest point of the kurimi, and 

 separated from it by open marsh and river. I interrogated the people of this 

 village, and they told me that they know that the flies live in the kurimi, but 

 that they never cross the river into their village. These people keep numbers of 

 cattle there, so that it appears that the flies are very loth to cross the open ground. 

 25110 F 2 



