Mdee, F.E.; Lyatuu, J.; Mafie, E.; Mnyone, L.L. Host Choice and Feeding Behaviours of Glossina morsitans Offspring Whose Parents Were Fed on Different Host Species. Parasitologia2024, 4, 38-46.
Mdee, F.E.; Lyatuu, J.; Mafie, E.; Mnyone, L.L. Host Choice and Feeding Behaviours of Glossina morsitans Offspring Whose Parents Were Fed on Different Host Species. Parasitologia 2024, 4, 38-46.
Mdee, F.E.; Lyatuu, J.; Mafie, E.; Mnyone, L.L. Host Choice and Feeding Behaviours of Glossina morsitans Offspring Whose Parents Were Fed on Different Host Species. Parasitologia2024, 4, 38-46.
Mdee, F.E.; Lyatuu, J.; Mafie, E.; Mnyone, L.L. Host Choice and Feeding Behaviours of Glossina morsitans Offspring Whose Parents Were Fed on Different Host Species. Parasitologia 2024, 4, 38-46.
Abstract
The success of any tsetse control programs depends on the knowledge of their behaviour. This study assessed the host choice and feeding behaviours of Glossina morsitans’ siblings whose parents were bloodfed on Rabbits, Guinea pigs, Rodents and Squirrels. Individual host was placed in a screen cage which allowed flies to enter through openings on each side. The groups of flies (20 per replicate) colour-marked differently basing on their parents’ bloodmeal hosts, were released from the centre of large semi-field cage. Released flies were aspirated after 24 hours, then, sorted basing on the location, feeding status and parents’ bloodmeal. A total of 213 flies (72.95% of the recovered) were attracted to the hosts. The number of flies attracted to different hosts varied significantly (χ²4= 33.685, p= 0.0001); Rodent (n=80, p=0.006), Rabbit (n=59, p=0.331), Guinea pig (n=49, p=0.057) and squirrel (n=25, p=0.005). The number of flies attracted to their parent’s blood meal source varied significantly (χ²12 = 56.476, p<0.001); rabbits (n= 35, 59.32%, p<0.001), rodent (n=25, 31.25%, p=0.043) and guinea pig (n= 19, 38.78%, p=0.45). But, only 39 flies (18.31% of total attracted) bloodfed on the hosts; Guinea pigs (n=10, 25.64%), Rodents (n=23, 58.97%), Rabbits (n=6, 15.38%) and Squirrels (n=0,0.0%). There was significant variation in number of flies that fed successively across hosts (χ²4=49.478, p<0.001). The findings from this study confirms the presence of the hosts’ differential attractiveness to flies but failed to explain observed behaviours with reference to genetic inheritance. Therefore, the study attracts the need for detailed investigation on the influence of bloodmeal sources on tsetsefly siblings’ behaviours across filial generations using small mammals.
Keywords
Glossina morsitans; Rabbits; Guinea pigs; Rodents; Squirrels; bloodfed; and attracted
Subject
Biology and Life Sciences, Insect Science
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
