A Study of the Causes Leading To the Seasonal Evacuation of a Tsetse Breeding-Ground.

Abstract

In 1939 the writer published an article in this journal entitled" The Ecology of the Puparium of Glossina in Northern Nigeria" (Nash 1939). He described the seasonal shifting of the breeding-grounds of G. morsitans and G. tachinoides at Gadau, and, after discussing the relationship between certain meteorological data and pupal mortality, he summed up on p. 281 as follows: "It has been shown that the females leave a breeding-ground as soon as pupal mortality starts to increase, and that this coincides with rising soil temperature in the dry season and with rising soil water content in the rains; but no explanation has been given as to what prompts the female to vacate a breeding-ground when she does."