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Background Small targets comprising panels of blue and insecticide-treated black netting material each 0.25 × 0.25 m have been shown to attract and kill Glossina fuscipes fuscipes Newstead, 1910 (Diptera: Glossinidae) thereby reducing its population density by over 90% in field trials. However, their attractive ability has not been fully exploited for sampling purposes. Therefore, in this study we assessed the effectiveness of using sticky small targets as sampling tools for G. f. fuscipes in western Kenya. We also determined the influence of colour on the landing response of female and male flies on sticky small targets. Methods Using a series of randomised block experiments, the numbers of tsetse flies caught with sticky small targets were compared with those caught with biconical traps. A negative binomial regression was used to model fly catches. Odds ratios as measures of association between the landing response on the blue or black panel of the sticky small target and the sex of flies were obtained from a multiple logistic regression. Results The results showed that sticky small targets caught 13.5 and 3.6 times more female and male tsetse flies than biconical traps (Z = 9.551, P < 0.0001 and Z = 5.978, P < 0.0001, respectively). Females had a 1.7 times likelihood of landing on the black panel than males (Z = 2.25, P = 0.025). Conclusion This study suggests that sticky small targets are an effective sampling tool for G. f. fuscipes. Therefore, we recommend the use of sticky small targets as an alternative to biconical traps for observational and experimental investigations of G. f. fuscipes.

In order to identify pathogenic trypanosomes responsible for African trypanosomiasis, and to better understand tsetse-trypanosome relationships, surveys were undertaken in three sites located in different eco-climatic areas in Côte d’Ivoire during the dry and rainy seasons. Tsetse flies were caught during five consecutive days using biconical traps, dissected and microscopically examined looking for trypanosome infection. Samples from infected flies were tested by PCR using specific primers for Trypanosoma brucei s.l., T. congolense savannah type, T. congolense forest type and T. vivax. Of 1941 tsetse flies caught including four species, i.e. Glossina palpalis palpalis, G. p. gambiensis, G. tachinoides and G. medicorum, 513 (26%) were dissected and 60 (12%) were found positive by microscopy. Up to 41% of the infections were due to T. congolense savannah type, 30% to T. vivax, 20% to T. congolense forest type and 9% due to T. brucei s.l. All four trypanosome species and subgroups were identified from G. tachinoides and G. p. palpalis, while only two were isolated from G. p. gambiensis (T. brucei s.l., T. congolense savannah type) and G. medicorum (T. congolense forest, savannah types). Mixed infections were found in 25% of cases and all involved T. congolense savannah type with another trypanosome species. The simultaneous occurrence of T. brucei s.l., and tsetse from the palpalis group may suggest that human trypanosomiasis can still be a constraint in these localities, while high rates of T. congolense and T. vivax in the area suggest a potential risk of animal trypanosomiasis in livestock along the Comoé River.