Seasonal fluctuation and relative abundance of tsetse fly (glossinidae) in obinagu (Obeagu), Enugu South Local Government Area, Enugu State, Nigeria

Abstract

Trypanosomiasis, transmitted by tsetse flies has remained a serious health threat to both animal and human life in Nigeria and other countries in the sub-Saharan Africa. This study was conducted between June – July (wet season) and November – December (dry season) of 2017. Biconical traps were deployed at three sampling sites along the gallery forest of River Ewu in Obinagu and the captured tsetse flies were identified and sexed. A total of 182 tsetse fly of the species Glossina palpalis were collected, out of which 42(23.07 %) flies were caught during the dry season and 140(76.92 %) during the wet season. Out of the 42 flies caught during the dry season, 28(66.6 %) were males and 14(33.3 %) were females and of the 140 caught during the wet season 71(50.7 %) were males and 69(49.2 %) were females. The difference in flies caught during the wet and dry season was significant (p<0.05). Similarly, significantly more males (p = 0.01) and female (p = 0.01) were trapped during the wet season compared to dry season. The relative abundance of tsetse flies between dry and wet seasons were 23.07 and 76.9 % respectively, thus, tsetse flies captured were more abundant during the wet season than the dry season. Also, the abundance of the male tsetse flies caught was more than the female tsetse flies. The study confirmed the presence of tsetse flies in Obinagu, Obeagu community in Enugu South LGA Enugu State Nigeria.