The effect of colour on the numbers, age and nutritional status of Glossina tachinoides (Diptera: Glossinidae) attracted to targets

Abstract

Abstract The effect of colour on the attractiveness of cloth targets for G.tachinoides Westwood was investigated, using electrified nets. The ages and nutritional states of tsetse caught by different targets were also studied. With targets of cloth and mosquito netting panels, phthalogen blue was the most attractive colour, and yellow the least, with black, red, violet and white intermediate. The strongest landing responses in females occurred on UV-reflecting white cloth. In males, landing was high with all colours except yellow. Colour combination targets were no better than all-blue targets when mosquito netting side-panels were present; in their absence, blue-and-white targets were over twice as good as all-blue targets. No consistent differences in ages or nutritional states were found between tsetse caught by differently coloured targets, but those landing directly on the cloth portion of a target had lower fat reserves than those intercepted on an adjacent netting panel.