﻿200 DB. B. MOISEB — NOTES ON THE HAUNTS AND HABITS OF GLOSSlNA 



did not persevere long enough, and had we had a better means of illumination, I 

 think we should have seen the flies asleep on the under side of twigs, or possibly 

 on the ground. I cannot think that the flies had left the kurimi, as the men 

 suggested, or had ascended to the tree-tops, for we had left them in their usual 

 position at dusk. 



The following conclusions may be drawn from the foie-going observations and 

 experiments. 



(1) Deep shade and proximity to water appear to be the chief factors 

 determining the localisation of the flies. 



(2) The natural resting place of G. tachinoides is on the lower side of twigs 

 and branches of undergrowth, under the shade of large trees, at a height usually 

 not greater than a foot from the ground. 



(3) They are very restless, and do not usually remain long in one position. 



(4) The flies do not usually travel higher than 4 or 5 feet from the ground, 

 and probably never ascend as high as 1 feet. 



(5) They probably do not feed on monkeys or birds, but on ground animals, 

 e.g., warthog, duiker or bushbuck. 



(6) The flies require a meal fairly frequently, and cannot withstand starvation 

 (without water) for longer than 24 to 30 hours. In captivity, at any rate, they 

 will feed on the dead bodies of other tsetse-flies. I am inclined to think, that 

 they may feed naturally on other insects, ticks, grass-hoppers, etc. They 

 certainly feed voraciously on human beings. 



(7) I am of opinion, that, during the day, the flies are constantly moving about 

 from place to place within the fly-belt, i.e., in deep shade, and only for short 

 periods rest on the under side of twigs and small branches, and perhaps on the 

 ground. 



22nd Dec, 1911. — Left Geidam by barge, and proceeded down the River 

 Wobe. Found a belt of G. tachinoides, about 4 miles from Geidam, on the 

 north bank. The flies first appeared in the barge, and, on going to the bank, I 

 found a few to be harbouring in the bushes and long grass on the river bank. 

 There was a belt of thick bush about 150 yards back from the river, and I found 

 numerous tsetses in this bush. 



24th Dec, 1911. — Investigated the river bush towards Bultua, about 16 miles 

 eastwards from Geidam. I found two separate localised patches of G. tachinoides, 

 neither of them being on the river bank, but bordering on marshes some little 

 distance from the stream. 



29th Dec, 1911. — Examined the river bush, west of Jigaje, about 12 miles 

 east of Geidam. I found a belt of G. tachinoides on the river bank, probably 

 one of those previously marked by Dr. Pirie ; but the natives of the town told 

 me that tsetse have only inhabited this place for the last two years, and were 

 never there previous to this. Again the belt was very localised, being restricted 

 to the thick jungle, formed of shady tamarind trees, ebony trees, and thorns, 

 with a fair amount of undergrow 7 th. The flies were fairly numerous in this belt, 

 but less so than in the others. 



Ten living specimens were put into a dry bottle, containing a little of the soil 

 of the locality, and ten others into another similar bottle, except that some water 

 was added. All the flies in the dry bottle were dead at the end of 26 hours, 



