ATTRACTANT OF ODOUR ATTRACTANTS ON HAEMATOPHAGOUS DIPTERANS IN ARBA MINCH ZURIA DISTRICT OF GAMO ZONE, SOUTHERN ETHIOPIA

Abstract

This study was conducted to assess the effectiveness of different odour on attractant of the haematophagous Diptera in Arba Minch Zuria district. The experimental study was conducted from November 2023 to October 2024 to collect haematophagous Diptera using with and without different odor baited (NGU) traps in the study area of Gamo zone, South Ethiopia. A one by eight factorial design was employed to evaluate the performance of the one trap, namely NGU with control group and seven odor attractants (cow urine (U), acetone (A), octenols (O), cow urine and acetone (U+A), cow urine and octenols (U+O), acetone and octenols (A+O), cow urine, acetone and octenols (U+A+O), were evaluated using NGU traps for their efficacy as a step in deployed traps in wood grassland. The deployed NGU traps with and without baited were deployed at a distance of 200 m apart and flies were collected after 72 hours. Haematophagous dipterans were identified morphologically to the genus and/or species level. All odor baited NGU traps significantly (P<0.05) attracted Glossina pallidipes as compared to control traps, except a combination of octenols and cow urine. The NGU traps baited with a combination of three cues (acetone+octenol+urine) was best odor bait in terms of attracting a significant (P<0.05) number (15.83) of G. pallidipes/trap/day as compared to other counterparts. However, its attractive performance did not significantly (P>0.05) vary from that of acetone only, which attracted an average of 13.6 G. pallidipes/trap/day. All odor cues study significantly attracted (P<0.05) Tabanid and Stomoxys dipterans, but genus of Ancala was not significant of odours baited when compared to the control traps. In conclusion, a combination of three cues; acetone, octenols and cow urine or just acetone with NGU trap can be the best attractant for tsetse suppressive activities in the endemic areas of Arba Minch Zuria district. NGU trap with cues used in this report is suitable to capture non-tsetse bitting dipterans for monitoring or control measures. Therefore, future study is encouraged to introduce better trap design and odor attractants for these haematophagous flies