The orientation of males of Glossina morsitans morsitans Westwood (Diptera: Glossinidae) to pheromone-baited decoy ‘females’ in the field

Abstract

AbstractField studies in Zimbabwe of the orientation of males of Glossina morsitans morsitans Westwood to decoy ‘females’ (9 × 3-mm rectangles of 2-mm thick brushed nylon, baited with sex pheromone, 15,19,23-trimethyl-heptatriacontane, and placed on a vertical, 1-m2 black cloth screen) demonstrated that (1) no olfactory response to air-borne pheromone was involved in the orientation of males to decoys, (2) the presence of decoys on a stationary screen did not increase the numbers of males landing on the screen, but they directed landings onto the decoys or the adjacent screen surface, (3) males did not differentiate between black or brown decoys, (4) males were more attracted to vertically oriented decoys on the screen surface than to decoys held away from the surface, and (5) males were more attracted to decoys at the centre of the screen than to decoys near the top or bottom edges. Points 1, 2 and 4 also applied in the case of G. pallidipes Austen using decoys dosed with its pheromone (13,23-dimethylpentatriacontane), but this species preferred black to brown decoys and showed less overt sexual activity than G. m. morsitans. Males of G. m. morsitans each removed 1–2μg of pheromone by contact with a decoy, leading to a gradual loss of the decoy's stimulatory power.