Catch Composition of Tsetse Flies (Glossina: Glossinidae)

Problem statement: A study to determine the composition of tsetse flies species was conducted between January and December, 2007 in Kamuku National Park, Nigeria, using Biconical and Nitse traps. Tsetse flies were trapped along gallery forest in five streams for two trapping days and were collected daily. Approach: All tsetse flies caught were identified to species level, sexed, separated into teneral and non-teneral, hunger staged and Mean Hunger Stage computed. Fly density were calculated, the age structure examined using wing fray techniques for males and ovarian technique for females; the reproductive status of female flies were assessed. Two species of tsetse flies (Glossina palpalis palpalis robineau-desvoidy and Glossina tachinoides Westwood) were caught in total of five hundred and two (502) flies. Out of these, 309(61.6%) Glossina tachinoides and 193(38.4%) G. palpalis were caught. Male catches (309, 61.6%) were significantly (P < 0.05) higher than females (193, 38.4%) also, the teneral flies (289, 57.6%) were more than the non-teneral flies (213, 42.4%). The Mean Hunger Stage (MHS) of 3.6 obtained indicated a hungry fly population. Fly density was generally low (0.1fly/trap/day) and varied between months with highest density (3flies/trap/day) occurring in February and lowest (0.2 fly/trap/day) in July. Results: The estimated mean age for males was 11 days and females were 8 days. The insemination rate of 93.8% generally was high, G. tachinoides recorded 95.5% more than G. palpalis of 91.6%. Whereas parity rate (25.8%) was low; G. palpalis was 37.4% while G. tachinoides parity rate is 17.2%. Conclusion: The study shows that two species of tsetse flies abound in the park although at low densities their presence may bear semblance to Trypanosomiasis and its impact to ecotourism.