﻿308 S. A. NEAVE — NOTES ON THE BLOOD-SUCKING 



It would then appear that the conditions in North and South Kavirondo, 

 but especially the latter, are not too well suited to G. palpalis at the present 

 time. There is a reasonable probability therefore that extensive clearing 

 operations in this region would result in the extinction of the insect. 



One point in respect of clearing operations is of interest, namely, that this and 

 probably all other species of Glossina habitually live very near the ground and 

 probably never settle more than a few feet above it. Hodges and others have 

 demonstrated that clearing operations need not involve the removal of large 

 trees with clean trunks free from low-growing branches. It seems to be the low 

 growth of shrubs, etc., which provides the necessary cover for G. palpalis, and 

 this will probably be found true for all species of Glossina, 



Glossina brevipalpis, Newst. 



This species seems to be, partially at least, dependent on the presence of water 

 or a moderate degree of atmospheric humidity. It is therefore only found in 

 river valleys and amongst a considerable amount of cover and shade, much more 

 than would be necessary for G. pallidipes, but less than for G. palpalis. In the 

 height of the dry season it seems to be found only in the immediate proximity of 

 water or cool and damp river beds. It prefers comparatively low country, and I 

 do not know any record of its occurrence at much over 3,000 feet.* 



This tsetse feeds for the most part in the early morning and late eveDing and has, 

 I think, a decided preference for animals as against man. Dr. Sanderson informs 

 me that in the Wankonde country, Northern Nyasaland, he has seen G. brevipalpis 

 in native huts. This is however explained by the fact that in that country the 

 natives keep their cattle in their living houses. 



The evidence as to whether this species is a carrier of trypanosomiasis is at 

 present very conflicting. It must be remembered that it frequently occurs in 

 company with G. pallidipes on the east coast oi Africa or with G. morsitans in 

 Nyasaland and Northern Rhodesia. On the other hand where it is the only 

 known species of Glossina, as in the country to the north and north-west of 

 Lake Nyasa, which is full of cattle, there is no definite evidence of trypano- 

 somiasis among the stock. 



Glossina longipennis, Corti. 



This is a desert-haunting species, confined, so far as at present known, to 

 North-Eastern Africa. It is widely spread over the lower-lying and drier 

 regions to the east and north in the British East Africa Protectorate and will 

 very probably be found extending into the Uganda Protectorate in the country 

 to the south-west and west of Lake Rudolph. It appears to be absent from the 

 sea-coast, where the climate is probably too humid for it. It would seem to be 

 entirely independent of water, and indeed rather to avoid it. I found it most 

 striking, when travelling from station to station on the railway between Yoi and 

 Makindu, to find numbers of this species in the dry, semi-desert, thorn-scrub 



* In Austen's " Handbook of the Tsetse-flies," p. 104, the elevation of the Tsavo R. on the 

 Uganda Railway (where this species and G. longipennis occur) is given in error as G,000 feet ; 

 this should be about 1,500 feet. 



