A COMPARISON OF GLOSSINA-MORSITANS CENTRALIS ORIGINATING FROM TANZANIA AND ZAMBIA, WITH RESPECT TO VECTORIAL COMPETENCE FOR PATHOGENIC TRYPANOSOMA SPECIES, GENETIC-VARIATION AND INTERCOLONY FERTILITY

Two laboratory strains of Glossina morsitans centralis originating fro m different fly-belts (one from Singida, in Tanzania, and the other fr om Mumbwa, in Zambia) were compared with respect to vectorial competen ce for pathogenic Trypanosoma species, genetic variation and inter-col ony fertility. The vectorial competence of G. m. centralis of Tanzania n origin for Trypanosoma vivax and T. congolense is similar to, wherea s for T. brucei brucei it is lower than the colony of Zambian origin. Nevertheless, these two laboratory strains of G. m. centralis showed l evels of susceptibility to the three pathogenic Trypanosoma species wh ich were much greater than previously observed in laboratory colonies of other Glossina species. Electrophoresis of fifteen enzymes revealed that the two colonies differ significantly in allele frequencies at o nly three loci that are relatively close together on one of the autoso mes. Hybridization experiments revealed that G. m. centralis from the two fly-belts are consubspecific.