The feeding habits and ecology of the tsetse fly Glossina morsitans submorsitans Newstead in relation to nagana transmission in the Gambia.

The source of blood meals from 174 fed Glossina morsitans submorsitans Newstead, captured in malaise traps in Savanna woodland in The Gambia, were identified by the precipitin test. Warthog accounted for 90% of the meals and single bushbuck and ox feeds were identified. Nagana is a major problem in the area, but contact between tsetse and livestock is reduced by restricted grazing. In this situation, warthog, with a ubiquitous distribution, appear to be major maintenance hosts for G. m. submorsitans as well as a potential reservoir of trypanosomiasis.