Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-r5fsc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-30T21:02:39.867Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The pregnancy rate in Glossina palpalis (R.-D.) in southern Nigeria

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 July 2009

A. M. Jordan
A. M. Jordan
Affiliation:
West African Institute for Trypanosomiasis Research, Kaduna, Northern Nigeria.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

Females of Glossina palpalis (R.-D.) were dissected and examined for pregnancy at the Ugbobigha field station of the West African Institute for Trypanosomiasis Research in southern Nigeria between January 1958 and October 1959. Of 2,490 females dissected, 46 (2%) were virgin; 764 (31%) had an egg in utero and 221 (9%) a larva in utero. Highest pregnancy rates were found in months with heaviest rainfall and lowest mean temperature, saturation deficit and evaporation rate.

The pregnancy rate in G. palpalis near Kaduna, in Northern Nigeria, was nearly twice that found at Ugbobigha, the major difference being in the number of females with a larva in utero. It is suggested that in the Ugbobigha area an adverse factor operates in the late egg or early larval stage, causing abortion; this is probably not a direct effect of climate or of insufficient food but may partly be related to the possible inability of females to obtain a blood-meal at just the right stage in gestation. Low pregnancy rates may, at least in part, explain the low densities of G. palpalis commonly found in the forest belt of West Africa, despite the wide distribution of the species in such areas.

Type
Research Paper
Information
Bulletin of Entomological Research , Volume 53 , Issue 2 , July 1962 , pp. 387 - 393
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1962

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Glasgow, J. P. & Bursell, E. (1961). Seasonal variations in the fat content and size of Glossina swynnertoni Austen.—Bull. ent. Res. 51 pp. 705–713.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gordon, R. M. & Davey, T. H. (1930). An account of trypanosomiasis at the Cape Lighthouse Peninsula, Sierra Leone.—Ann. trop. Med. Parasit. 124 pp. 289–318.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Johnson, W. B. & Lloyd, Ll. (1923). First report of the tsetse-fly investigation in the Northern Provinces of Nigeria.—Bull. ent. Res. 13 pp. 373–396.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jordan, A. M. (1962). The ecology of the fusca group of tsetse flies (Glossina) in southern Nigeria.,—Bull. ent. Res. 53 pp. 355–385.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Keay, R. W. J. (1953). An outline of Nigerian vegetation.—2nd edn., 55 pp. Lagos, Govt. Printer.Google Scholar
Mellanby, H. (1937). Experimental work on reproduction in the tsetse fly, Glossina palpalis.—Parasitology 29 pp. 131–141.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nash, T. A. M. (1937). Climate, the vital factor in the ecology of Glossina.— Bull. ent. Res. 28 pp. 75–127.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nash, T. A. M. & Page, W. A. (1953). The ecology of Glossina palpalis in northern Nigeria.—Trans. R. ent. Soc. Lond. 104 pp. 71–169.Google Scholar
Page, W. A. (1959). The ecology of Glossina palpalis (R.-D.) in southern Nigeria.—Bull. ent. Res. 50 pp. 617–631.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pomeroy, A. W. J. (1930). Report of the Medical Entomologist.—Rep. med. sanit. Dept. Gold Cst 1929–30 pp. 121–129.Google Scholar