Abstract:
This work shows the effective trapping method used in catching Glossinidae and Tabanidae species and
their distribution in The Gambia. One hundred and eight-six traps were used in this study comprising of
62 Biconical traps, 62 NGU traps and 62 Vavoua traps for 50 trapping days. These traps were baited with
at least 4 months old cow urine and acetone and they were deployed at a distance of 100 m apart. A total
number of 517 flies belonging to the genus Tabanidae and Glossinidae were captured. This included:
Atylotus. agrestis (55%), Tabanus sourcouf (0.4%), Tabanus par (1.2%) and T. taeniatus (1.4%), Glossina
morsitan submorsitan (26%) and Glossina palpalis gambiensis (16%). However, Atylotus agrestis and
Glossina palpalis gambiensis were the species that were mostly caught in this study. The present study
also shows that, Lower River Region was the region with the highest number of Tabanidae species caught
(85 catches, mean=20.7 and SD=16.76) while Central River Region-North also had the highest catch of
Glossinidae species (52 catches, Mean= 14 and Sd=6.98). Late rainy season (October 2020) and late
dry season (April 2020) were the seasons in which the highest number of Tabanidae and Glossinidae
species were caught respectively. This study clearly demonstrated that, Biconical trap is the most effective
trap that can be used to control the population of both Glossinidae and Tabanidae species in The Gambia
