Tsetse fly

“ Of the many plagues that beset this land of Africa not the least are the biting flies. Just as every tree and bush has thorns, so every fly has a sting. Some bite by day only, some by night, and others at all times. Even the ants have wings, and drop them in our soup as they resume their plantigrade existence once again.
The worst biter that we have met in the many "fly-belts" that lie along the Northern Railway is the tsetse fly: especially was he to be found at a place called Same, and during the long trek from German Bridge on the Northern Railway to Morogoro in the south. ”

“ In certain localities of Southern Africa there is a remarkable fly, the Tsetse fly. In the ordinary course of satisfying its hunger, this insect punctures the skin of a horse, and the animal dies in consequence. A fly makes a lunch, and a horse's life pays the price of the meal. This has ever seemed to me to represent the beast-of-prey principle in Nature more vigorously than any other fact. But in that system whose fangs are now red with the blood of our brave there is an expression of this principle not less enormous. It is the very Tsetse fly of civilization. ”

“ In one of the rooms of the laboratory there were natives holding little cages of tsetse flies against the monkeys, which were pinioned to the floor by the natives. The screened cages were held close to the stomach of the helpless monkey, and little apertures in the screen permitted the fly to settle upon and bite the animal.
There are certain wide belts of land in Africa called the "tsetse fly belts," where horses, mules and cattle can not live. ”

“ In many districts in German East Africa the tsetse-fly, which causes the dreadful sleeping sickness in man, also makes it impossible to keep cattle except under quite special conditions. This heifer, then, was already doomed to a painful death through the tsetse illness, and the fate I provided for it was more merciful, for the lion kills its prey by one single powerful bite. ”

“ The points of disagreement are many, and such as to make it entirely improbable that this fly is the true tsetse, though my men unanimously stated that its bite was fatal to horses as well as to donkeys. A descriptive abstract of the tsetse would read thus: "Not much larger than a common house-fly, nearly of the same brown colour as the honey-bee. After-part of the body has yellow bars across it. It has a peculiar buzz, and its bite is death to the horse, ox, and dog. On man the bite has no effect, neither has it on wild animals. ”

“ As protection against them everyone was supposed, by S.M.O. order, to sleep beneath mosquito net, but that was often quite impossible when trekking, and our kit miles in rear.
In some parts we passed through, especially if riding, the tsetse fly was a terrible pest, for they bite hard and deep, and follow you persistently on your way for many miles. It is that fly which is credited with carrying the germ of that dread disease sleeping sickness—while, as is well known, its bite is particularly fatal to imported horses and mules, and, in lesser degree, to cattle. ”

“ It is very evident from this, that horses could not live in Liberia, and since the tsetse fly introduced to the notice of the scientific world recently by Doctor Livingstone the African Explorer, has never been seen nor heard of in this part of the continent, nor any other insect that tormented them, those must have been the prime causes of fatality to these noble and most useful domestic creatures. ”

“ Another appalling scourge of the settlers in the south-west district of Cape Colony is a minute, almost imperceptible insect, of terrible omen, the tsetse-fly (Glossina morsitans) , a puncture from which produces such terrible destruction among horses and cattle, that several runs of land are uninhabitable—nay, even the mere passing through districts which they frequent, proves fatal to the draught beasts of the caravans. This insect is principally encountered in copses and brushwood, very seldom in the open country, and is about the size of a common house fly, but with wings a little longer. ”

“ The most serious impediment which stands in the African hunter’s road to success is the tsetse fly, which haunts the forests and the banks of streams in many parts of southern and subtropical Africa. Horses and dogs are also liable to be fatally affected; but men, mules, and donkeys, as well as sheep or goats and wild animals, are not injured. ”

“ The Report of Colonel Bruce, which was issued three years ago, shows that the sleeping-sickness which devastates Central Africa, from the West Coast to the East, is also conveyed by a species of tsetse fly. Writing over a hundred years ago of Sierra Leone, Winterbottom mentions the disease. ‘The Africans,’ he says, ‘are very subject to a species of lethargy which they are very much afraid of, as it proves fatal in every instance.’ Early last century it was recorded in Brazil and the West Indies ”

“ Who would suppose that one of the causes which render the centre of Africa difficult to be explored is a fly not larger than the house-fly? The Tsetse fly (Fig. 53) is of brown colour, with a few transverse yellow stripes across the abdomen, and with wings longer than its body. It is not dangerous to man, to any wild animals, or to the pig, the mule, the ass, or the goat. But it stings mortally the ox, the horse, the sheep, and the dog, and renders the countries of Central Africa uninhabitable for those valuable animals. It seems to possess very sharp sight. ”

“ It has indeed been already proposed, in all seriousness, by some men of science to completely extirpate the wild animals of East Africa, in order thus to circumvent the tsetse fly and other minor pests that may perhaps communicate disease from the wild to the tame cattle. ”

“ The tsetse-flies develop in a very different way from most insects. The female does not deposit her eggs, but a single one develops to the fully grown larval condition before being deposited. This larva soon pupates in the shade beneath the brush bordering the water where it has been dropped by the parent fly, and later emerges in the winged adult condition. The pupa? require such moist shade, and it is apparently for this reason alone that the flies never occur away from the immediate vicinity of the water. ”

“ I was therefore very glad when some natives brought me news that a large herd of elephants were feeding in a valley about thirty miles away. At first I thought of trekking down to the valley, waggon and all, but gave up the idea on hearing that it was infested with the deadly ‘tsetse’ fly, which is certain death to all animals, except men, donkeys, and wild game. So I reluctantly determined to leave the waggon in the charge of the Matabele leader and driver, and to start on a trip into the thorn country, accompanied only by the Hottentot Hans, and Mashune. ”

“ In Uganda extensive tracts of fertile wooded land have had to be abandoned on account of the presence there of the tsetse fly, while, prior to this abandonment, there were districts in which every living soul had been destroyed by the deadly sleeping sickness transmitted by this fly. ”

“ The germ-impregnated fly is nowhere in Africa so numerous and vicious as upon that wretched Portuguese island, where few of a ship’s passengers care to land, for the risk of becoming inoculated with sleeping sickness is a very real one. Whilst on that island we had to keep an extremely vigilant watch upon the terrible tsetse flies which gave us no peace, so anxious were they to taste our blood. The fly, which is found in most parts of West Africa, is most prevalent in the Bangalla region of the Congo and on Principe Island. ”

“ Robber-flies are voracious and insatiable forms which prey upon other insects, even wasps and tiger-beetles being among their victims.
Hover-flies are swift and elegant insects which have already been mentioned in connection with flowers. Some of them closely resemble bees in appearance.
The dreaded tsetse fly (Glossina morsitans) , so fatal to horses in parts of South Africa, belongs here. Germs of the fly-sickness (Nagana) are introduced into the blood of the victims, Tsetse flies of other species are responsible for “sleeping sickness,” which makes parts of tropical Africa uninhabitable. ”

“ The biting muscids, therefore, have a strong, rigid, beaklike proboscis formed of the same pieces that com- pose the sucking proboscis of the house fly (compare Fig. ?83 A with Figs. I84 and I86 A) , but the labium is so modified that it becomes an effective piercing organ. When one of these files bites, it sinks the entire beak into the flesh of its victims. The tsetse fly is said to spread its front legs apart when it alights for the purpose of feeding, and to insert its beak by several quick downward thrusts of the head and thorax. ”

“ A third expedition was successful, although the whole party came near perishing for want of water, and their cattle, which had been bitten by the 'Tsetse', died.
This insect—the 'Glossina moritans' of the naturalists—deserves a special paragraph. It is a brown insect about as large as our common house-fly, with three or four yellow bars across its hinder part. A lively, buzzing, harmless-looking fellow is the tsetse. Its bite produces a slight itching similar to that caused by the mosquito, and in the case of men and some species of animals no further ill effects follow. ”

“ At last my uncle and Jan returned with our four-footed attendants.
“We have carried the monster’s carcase far enough off to prevent it from poisoning us by its horrible odour when it putrifies, which it will in a few hours,” he observed. “But I am afraid that it will attract the hyaenas and jackals in no small numbers, so that we shall be annoyed by their howls and screechings. I am sorry to say also that the horses seem ill able to perform their work, and I greatly fear that they have been injured by the tsetse fly. If we lose them we shall have a difficulty in getting along. ”

“ Fossil Tsetse Fly (Glossina oligocena) . The tsetse flies are no longer found in America. (Much enlarged.) scarcely visible at all, especially on the wet shale as it is dug out; but under a strong lens they show every detail of the structure of the wings. On the other hand, some specimens which superficially appear excellent prove upon minute examination to be of small scientific value.
When the fossils have been obtained, it is no easy matter to determine and describe them. In the case of the plants, many species are easily recognized and can be classified with much certainty ”

“ The habits of bees, ants, beetles and spiders are noted, and of the ants, found in all parts of Africa, those in these central regions build the most palatial structures. The most ferocious enemy of the explorer is not the portentous weapon of lion’s claw, rhinoceros’ horn, or elephant’s tusk, but a small fly—the notorious tsetse, whose bite is death to baggage animals, whose swarms have brought ruin to many a promising expedition, and whose presence is a more effectual barrier to the progress of civilization than an army of a million natives. ”

“ The westward route being thus out of the question, instead of availing himself of the offer of a passage home from the officers of H.M.'s cruisers at Loando, Livingstone determined to retrace his steps, and seek a path along the Zambési to the east.
In August, 1854, he is once more at Linyanti; on November 3d, starting down the Zambési with a large retinue of Makololo.
The country beyond Linyanti is greatly infested by the "tsetse" fly, the bite of which, fatal to oxen, horses, and dogs, is perfectly harmless to man, as well as to goats and sheep, and wild animals. ”

“ An insect, little bigger than the common fly of England, but whose sting is deadly as the bite of rattle-snake or cobra-di-capello; fortunately not to man himself, but to man’s best friends in the animal world—dogs, horses, cattle, and sheep (Note 1) . So when Andries Rynwald called out the name of the venomous creature, Piet Van Dorn and his brother had instant and clear comprehension why the camp was being so abruptly abandoned. The tsetse had made its appearance there; in flight lay the sole chance of saving the stock, and even this might be too late. ”

“ Stas also understood, for while in Port Said he had often heard of the African fly, called "tsetse," which is such a terrible plague in some regions that wherever it has its permanent habitat the negroes do not possess any cattle at all, and wherever, as a result of temporary favorable conditions it multiplies unexpectedly, cattle perish. A horse, ox, or donkey bitten by a tsetse wastes and dies in the course of a fortnight or even in a few days. ”

“ As regards domestic animals—horses, oxen, and so forth—they can be moved safely through the worst fly-belts if proper care be taken. They must be shut up in a hut during the daytime, and for preference in a hut situated in or near a village, since the tsetse invariably shuns the habitations of man, preferring to live out its life in the low, unhealthy localities it most frequents, near to water, stagnant if possible, and with plenty of thick tropical undergrowth288 wherein it can breed and take refuge from its many enemies. ”

“ Honey is very cheap; a good large pot of about a gallon, with four fowls, was given for two yards of calico. Buffaloes again bitten by tsetse, and by another fly exactly like the house-fly, but having a straight hard proboscis instead of a soft one; other large flies make the blood run. The tsetse does not disturb the buffaloes, but these others and the smaller flies do. The tsetse seem to like the camel best; from these they are gorged with blood—they do not seem to care for the mules and donkeys. ”