Traps to control and estimate populations of Glossina species

Biconical traps were used to capture continuously Glossina palpalis s.l. in Ivory Coast and G. morsitans centralis in Zambia for 19 and 20 days respectively. Both fly populations declined markedly during the continuous trapping period though populations subjected to intermittent trapping or where the traps were very widely spaced did not do so to the same extent. Fly density was estimated by applying the principles of removal trapping and were compared with other trapping studies. The results demonstrated that biconical traps removed 7% of the female component of the population each day and that this 7% removal value was itself a measure of absolute trapping efficiency; providing a novel means of population estimation. The potential of traps to control tsetse and thus break trypanosome transmission cycles or reduce 'challenge' on a self-help basis at the village level is discussed.