FEEDING-BEHAVIOR OF GLOSSINA FUSCIPES FUS CIPES NEWSTEAD, 1910 (DIPTERA, GLOSSINIDAE) IN 2 CATTLE-BREEDING AREAS OF THE CENTRAL-AFRICAN-REPUBLIC

From 1987 to 1993, a survey on the feeding behavior of Glossina fuscip es fuscipes was conducted in the Central African Republic. A total of 556 blood-meal samples was analyzed by ELISA. According to the results , the number of blood meals from cattle was rather low (12% on average ). During the rainy season, this number increased significantly and va ried according to the sampling area. Along the riverine forests, this amounted to 5%, while blood meals from wild ruminants amounted to 87%. In the neighborhood of watering-places, the number of cattle blood me als reached 9-22%. Reptiles were found to be important hosts (17-35%). In all cases, man presented a non-negligible host (4-14%), similar to suidae (2-19%). The authors discuss the relevance of these results to risk of trypanosomes transmission.