Abstract:

Several trap designs have been used for sampling and control of the tsetse fly, Glossina fuscipes
fuscipes, Newstead (Diptera: Glossinidae) based on preferences of individual researchers and program
managers with little understanding of the comparative efficiency and cost-effectiveness of trap designs.
This study was carried out to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of four commonly used trap designs:
monoscreen, modified pyramidal and pyramidal, relative to the standard biconical trap. The study was
performed under high tsetse challenge on Buvuma Island, Lake Victoria, Uganda, using a 4 x 4 Latin
square design replicated 3 times, so as to separate the trap positions and day effects from the treatment
effect. A total of 12 trap positions were tested over 4 days. The monoscreen trap caught significantly
higher numbers of G. f. fuscipes (P<0.05) followed by biconical, modified pyramidal and pyramidal
traps. Analysis of variance showed that treatment factor was a highly significant source of variation in
the data. The index of increase in trap catches relative to biconical were 0.60 (pyramidal), 0.68
(modified pyramidal) and 1.25 (monoscreen). The monoscreen trap was cheaper (US$ 2.61) and
required less material to construct than pyramidal trap (US$ 3.48), biconical and the modified
pyramidal traps (US$ 4.06 each). Based on the number of flies caught per meter of material, the
monoscreen trap proved to be the most cost-effective (232 flies/m) followed by the biconical trap (185
flies/m). The modified pyramidal and the pyramidal traps caught 112 and 125 flies/m, respectively.