Responses of Glossina austeni to sticky panels and odours

The responses of male tsetse Glossina austeni Newstead (Diptera: Glossinida e) towards blue and white sticky legged panels, baited with odour attractan ts, and towards modified panels were studied in the Jozani forest of Unguja Island, Zanzibar. Increasing the height of the body of a standard panel fr om 30 to 60 or 90 cm, increased the catch two-fold. Increasing the height o f the legs (from 15 to 60 or 120 cm) or raising the device more than 5 cm a bove the ground reduced the catch significantly. The legs of the panels wer e the preferred landing sites of the flies, irrespective of the height of t he body of the panel. Acetone (300 mg/h) combined with cow urine (60-130 mg /h) significantly increased the catches two- to threefold during the rainy season, but not during the dry season. Acetone had no effect during the dry season and its effect during the rainy season was less consistent. There w as no effect of octenol (2.5-12.5 mg/h), used alone or in combination with acetone. Likewise, the catch did not increase through the addition of cow s ebum, pig urine (60-860 mg/h), pig urine combined with acetone and octenol. The observed seasonal differences in the response of G. austeni towards od ours are discussed in relation to host location strategies.