﻿196 DK. B. MOISER— -NOTES ON THE HAUNTS AND HABITS OF GLOSSINA 



The birds seen were guinea-fowl, francolin, pigeons and doves, hornbills, 

 night jars (?), finches, &c. 



7th Nov. — I remained in the kurimi all day with eleven men. The Hies bit us 

 freely, except for a couple of hours in the middle of the day, when they were 

 noticeably scarce. They were at all times very difficult to catch. We did not 

 observe one on the ground, nor resting on tree-trunks or leaves. While sitting 

 for several hours in one place, it was noticed that sometimes half-a-dozen flies 

 suddenly appeared, remained to feed on us for say five minutes, then took to 

 flight, and then for a space of ten minutes or so no flies would be seen, when 

 again more would suddenly come on the scene. I had six men posted up trees, 

 at heights varying from 10 to 25 feet, for an hour, and not one of them reported 

 having seen a fly, although we on the ground saw several during that time. 

 So it appears that the flies always keep fairly close to the ground. 



The method of feeding was observed to be as follows : — 



The fly alighted on the skin of a human being and remained quite still for 

 5 to 20 seconds with its proboscis enclosed in the palpi and held in a line with its 

 body. Then the fly adjusted the position of its legs, so as to raise its body, the 

 proboscis was suddenly brought down at right angles to the line of the body, 

 perpendicular to the skin of the man, and at the same time the palpi were raised 

 a little higher. The proboscis was then driven into the skin, steadily and con- 

 tinuously, almost up to the bulb. After remaining thus for 3 or 4 seconds, the 

 proboscis was retracted without withdrawing the tip, and again driven in. Each 

 act of insertion and retraction occupied about 8 to 12 seconds, the rate of insertion 

 being much slower than that of retraction. These movements were repeated 

 5 or 6 times, as a rule, and at the end of that time the fly was distended with 

 blood and took to flight. 



The bite was generally attended by a pricking sensation, but sometimes there 

 was no feeling whatever. Only one bite caused me considerable itching, which 

 lasted into the next day. The flies settled most frequently on the bare backs 

 of the men, who were sitting on the ground. They also bit me freely through 

 the back of my dark brown '* bush-shirt," as well as on my bare forearms and 

 hands. I saw a few on the shaven heads of the men. 



9th Nov. — Examined closely the edges of the marsh, but saw very few 

 tsetse, and those seen were nearly always under the shade of large trees, very 

 rarely in the open sunlight. In several specimens, both male and female, 

 caught to-day, distended with blood, I noticed a large bubble of gas in the 

 abdomen. The bubble remained uppermost when the fly was slowly rotated 

 round a horizontal axis, and also ascended as far as the last segment but one, 

 when the fly was held head downwards. 



Spent some time trying to see tsetse-flies at rest on the ground, but did not see 

 one in that position. 



10th Nov. — Twenty-five flies were placed in one bottle (A), and four in 

 another (B), and closely watched. The insects were very restless, rarely 

 remaining stationary for more than a few seconds, and constantly rubbing together 

 their fore and hind legs. When the flies are at rest, the distal third of the 

 proboscis is often gently bent up and down, appearing above and below the palpi. 

 They constantly stroke the head, abdomen, and wings with their legs, exactly 



