Tsetse flies

Laboratory-reared G. p. gambiensis were obtained from a colony established in 1975 at the “Centre International de Recherche et de Développement sur l’Elevage en zone Subhumide” (CIRDES) in Bobo Dioulasso. Flies were held in 4.5 × 13 × 8 cm mesh-covered cages at a maximum density of 35 flies per cage under stable climatic conditions of 25 ± 2 °C, 70 ± 5 % relative humidity and 12 h:12 h LD rhythm. Flies were fed irradiated bovine blood collected from the local abattoir according to standard rearing procedures using an in vitro silicon membrane feeding system [36]. Two day- old teneral G. p. gambiensis males were used for the experiments. The choice for males was driven by insectary requirements (logistic rationale), females being needed to maintain the colony. However, both males and females are haematophageous, and do not display any differences in terms of host preferences [37].