Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-p9bg8 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-27T09:04:08.041Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

The responses of individual males in an isolated population of Glossina morsitans morsitans Westwood (Diptera: Glossinidae) to pheromone-baited decoy ‘females’

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 July 2009

Martin J. R. Hall
Affiliation:
Tsetse Research Laboratory, University of Bristol, Langford, Bristol, BS18 7DU, UK
Peter A. Langley
Affiliation:
Tsetse Research Laboratory, University of Bristol, Langford, Bristol, BS18 7DU, UK

Abstract

The responses of individually marked males of Glossina morsitans morsitans Westwood to decoys (9 × 3-mm rectangles of 2-mm-thick brushed nylon) baited with sex pheromone (15,19,23-trimethylheptatriacontane) were studied after their release onto an island in Lake Kariba, Zimbabwe. Some 45–60% of resighted flies were seen on decoys, the percentage being greater for flies released at an older age. For flies released on emergence, the mean age at first contact with decoys on a static screen was 6.6 days, an average of four days later than their first observed contact with a bait ox. There was great variability in the response towards decoys on successive contacts. In general, the intensity of the responses to decoys in the first minute after contact (the ‘pre-copulatory’ responses) decreased from one enounter to the next in a single 1–2-h observation session, but were restored to high levels after an interval of several hours. The intensity of responses towards decoys after this initial period (the ‘copulatory’ responses) were not affected by previous contacts. Neither previous sexual experience nor age at first contact affected the durations of response on decoys. There were no differences between the responses of wild flies and those from a laboratory colony. The results are discussed in relation to the use of decoys with chemosterilant for tsetse autosterilization. Over 60% of flies contacting decoys did so more than once, which would increase, cumulatively, the chances of their being sterilized.

Type
Original Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1989

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

Al-Sa'ad, B. N., Free, J. B. & Howse, P. E. (1985). Adaptation of worker honeybees (Apis mellifera) to their alarm pheromones.—Physiol. Entomol. 10, 114.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bartell, R. J. (1985). Pheromone-mediated behaviour of male lightbrown apple moth, Epiphyas postvittana, correlated with adaptation of pheromone receptors.—Physiol. Entomol. 10, 121126.Google Scholar
Bursell, E. (1961). Post-teneral development of the thoracic musculature in tsetse flies.—Proc. R. ent. Soc. Lond. (A) 36, 6974.Google Scholar
Carlson, D. A., Langley, P. A. & Huyton, P. (1978). Sex pheromone of the tsetse fly: isolation, identification, and synthesis of contact aphrodisiacs.—Science, N. Y. 201, 750753.Google Scholar
Coates, T. W. & Langley, P. A. (1982). Laboratory evaluation of contact sex pheromone and bisazir for autosterilization of Glossina morsitans.—Entomologia exp. appl. 31, 276284.Google Scholar
Dame, D. A., Birkenmeyer, D. R., Nash, T. A. M. & Jordan, A. M. (1975). The dispersal and survival of laboratory-bred and native Glossina morsitans morsitans Westw. (Diptera, Glossinidae) in the field.—Bull. ent. Res. 65, 453457.Google Scholar
Dean, G. J. W., Clements, S. A. & Paget, J. (1969). Observations on sex attraction and mating behaviour of the tsetse fly Glossina morsitans orientalis Vanderplank.—Bull. ent. Res. 59, 355365.Google Scholar
Foster, W. A. (1976). Male sexual maturation of the tsetse flies Glossina morsitans Westwood and G. austeni Newstead (Dipt., Glossinidae) in relation to blood feeding.—Bull. ent. Res. 66, 389399.Google Scholar
Hall, M. J. R. (1987). The orientation of males of Glossina morsitans morsitans Westwood (Diptera: Glossinidae) to pheromone-baited decoy ‘females’ in the field.—Bull. ent. Res. 77, 487495.Google Scholar
Hall, M. J. R. (1988). Characterization of the sexual responses of male tsetse flies, Glossina morsitans morsitans, to pheromone-baited decoy ‘females’ in the field.—Physiol. Entomol. 13, 4958.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hargrove, J. W. (1975). The flight performance of tsetse flies.—J. Insect Physiol. 21, 13851395.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hargrove, J. W. (1976). The effect of human presence on the behaviour of tsetse (Glossinaspp.) (Diptera: Glossinidae) near a stationary ox.—Bull. ent. Res. 66, 173178.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hargrove, J. W. & Vale, G. A. (1980). Catches of Glossina morsitans morsitans Westwood and G. pallidipes Austen (Diptera: Glossinidae) in odour-baited traps in riverine and deciduous woodlands in the Zambesi Valley of Zimbabwe.—Bull. ent. Res. 70, 571578.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Huyton, P. M., Langley, P. A., Carlson, D. A. & Coates, T. W. (1980). The role of sex pheromones in initiation of copulatory behaviour by male tsetse flies, Glossina morsitans morsitans.—Physiol. Entomol 5, 243252.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Langley, P. A. (1977). Physiology of tsetse flies (Glossina spp.) (Diptera: Glossinidae): a review.—Bull. ent. Res. 67, 523574.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Langley, P. A., Huyton, P. M., Carlson, D. A. & Schwarz, M. (1981). Effects of Glossina morsitans morsitans Westwood (Diptera: Glossinidae) sex pheromone on behaviour of males in field and laboratory.—Bull. ent. Res. 71, 5763.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Langley, P. A., Coates, T. W., Carlson, D. A., Vale, G. A. & Marshall, J. (1982). Prospects for autosterilisation of tsetse flies, Glossina spp. (Diptera: Glossinidae), using sex pheromone and bisazir in the field.—Bull. ent. Res. 72, 319327.Google Scholar
Langley, P. A., Hall, M. J. R., Felton, T. & Ceesay, M. (1988). Determining the age of tsetse flies, Glossina spp. (Diptera: Glossinidae): an appraisal of the pteridine fluorescence technique.—Bull. ent. Res. 78, 387395.Google Scholar
Lehane, M. J. & Mail, T. S. (1985). Determining the age of adult male and female Glossina morsitans morsitans using a new technique.—Ecol. Entomol. 10, 219224.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lehane, M. J. & Hargrove, J. (1988). Field experiments on a new method for determining age in tsetse flies (Diptera: Glossinidae).—Ecol. Entomol. 13, 319322.Google Scholar
Phelps, R. J. & Vale, G. A. (1978). Studies on populations of Glossina morsitans morsitans and G. pallidipes (Diptera: Glossinidae) in Rhodesia.—J. appl. Ecol. 15, 743760.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Torr, S. J. (1985). The susceptibility of Glossina pallidipes Austen (Diptera: Glossinidae) to insecticide deposits on targets.—Bull. ent. Res. 75, 451458.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vale, G. A. (1974). New field methods for studying the responses of tsetse flies (Diptera: Glossinidae) to hosts.—Bull. ent. Res. 64, 199208.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vale, G. A. (1977). The flight of tsetse flies (Diptera: Glossinidae) to and from a stationary ox.—Bull. ent. Res. 67, 297303.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vale, G. A. (1980). Flight as a factor in the host-finding behaviour of tsetse flies (Diptera: Glossinidae).—Bull. ent. Res. 70, 299307.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vale, G. A., Hargrove, J. W., Jordan, A. M., Langley, P. A. & Mews, A. R. (1976). Survival and behaviour of tsetse flies (Diptera: Glossinidae) released in the field: a comparison between wild flies and animal-fed and in vitro-fed laboratory-reared flies.—Bull. ent. Res. 66, 731744.Google Scholar
Vale, G. A., Hargrove, J. W., Cockbill, G. F. & Phelps, R. J. (1986). Field trials of baits to control populations of Glossina morsitans morsitans Westwood and G. pallidipes Austen (Diptera: Glossinidae).—Bull. ent. Res. 76, 179193.Google Scholar
Wall, R. (1988a). Analysis of the mating activity of male tsetse flies Glossina m. morsitans and G. pallidipes in the laboratory.—Physiol. Entomol. 13, 103110.Google Scholar
Wall, R. (1988b). Tsetse mating behaviour: effects of age and hunger in Glossina morsitans morsitans and G. pallidipes.—Physiol. Entomol. 13, 479486.Google Scholar