science

Glossina morsitans

Glossina morsitans is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Glossina morsitans rather than just read about it. In short: Glossina morsitans is a species of tsetse fly (genus Glossina). It is one of the major vectors of Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense in African savannas.

Key takeaways

Glossina morsitans belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Glossina morsitans to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Glossina morsitans from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Glossina morsitans is a species of tsetse fly (genus Glossina). It is one of the major vectors of Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense in African savannas.

Taxonomy Glossina morsitans is variously classified into the subgenus Glossina s.s. or as the name species of the morsitans species group. Three subspecies are traditionally recognized for G. morsitans:

G. m. submorsitans G. m. morsitans G. m. centralis G.m.s. is further subdivided by some authors into a G. m. s. ugandensis.

Morphology

Egg About 1.5–1.6 millimetres (15⁄256–1⁄16 in) long.

Larvae

First instar 1.8 millimetres (5⁄64 in) long.

Second instar 4.5 millimetres (11⁄64 in) long.

Third instar 6–7 millimetres (15⁄64–9⁄32 in) long.

Adult Adults are 7.75 millimetres (5⁄16 in). G. morsitans is occasionally distinguishable from congeners by the unaided eye - there are differences in gross coloration - if it can be observed resting. It is more readily distinguishable by microscopic examination.

Metabolism Flight muscles are primarily powered by proline, which is synthesized from fatty acids mobilised out of the fat body. Proline is so efficiently used in muscle mitochondria because they are specialised towards proline oxidising enzymes, and away from enzymes using fatty acids and pyruvate.

Distribution

G. morsitans is found in East Africa and Equatorial Africa. It is the tsetse species that is presently reported from the highest number of African countries, i.e. at least 23 including: Angola, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Côte d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The species was also historically reported in Benin, Burundi, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Niger, Sierra Leone and South Sudan, although recent published data for the species in these countries is lacking. G. morsitans  was also present in Botswana and Namibia, but the species is believed to have been sustainably eliminated in these two countries by means of aerial spraying of insecticide.

Glossina morsitans morsitans Glossina morsitans morsitans occupies the south-eastern part of the distribution of Glossina morsitans, and historically it was known to be present in Malawi, Mozambique, the United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe. In the peer-reviewed scientific literature for the period 1990–2020, Glossina morsitans morsitans was confirmed in all 5 countries.

Glossina morsitans submorsitans Glossina morsitans submorsitans occupies the northern part of the distribution of Glossina morsitans, and historically it was known to be present in 22 countries, from Ethiopia in the East to Senegal in the West. In the peer-reviewed scientific literature for the period 1990–2020, Glossina morsitans submorsitans was explicitly reported from 13 countries, i.e. Burkina Faso, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Chad, Ethiopia, the Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Mali, Nigeria, Senegal, Sudan, and Togo. In 2026, the subspecies was also confirmed in Côte d'Ivoire. Glossina morsitans submorsitans is also believed to have been detected in Uganda in the early 2010s, even though inadvertently reported as G. morsitans morsitans, while no published report of G. morsitans submorsitans occurrence is available for the period 1990–2020 from other historically infested countries (i.e. Benin, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Niger, Sierra Leone and South Sudan.

Glossina morsitans centralis Glossina morsitans centralis occupies the south-western part of the distribution of Glossina morsitans, and historically it was known to be present in Angola, Botswana, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Namibia, Rwanda, Uganda, the United Republic of Tanzania and Zambia. In the peer-reviewed scientific literature for the period 1990–2020, Glossina morsitans centralis was explicitly reported from 6 countries, i.e. Angola, Botswana, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Namibia, Rwanda, and Zambia. In the period 1990–2020, Glossina morsitans centralis was also reported, albeit at the species level (i.e. as Glossina morsitans), from the United Republic of Tanzania, in areas where the subspecies was historically known to occur. As regards Botswana and Namibia, notwithstanding earlier reports, G. morsitans centralis is believed to have been sustainably eliminated in the years 2000s by means of aerial spraying of insecticide (the sequential aerosol technique).

Hosts G. morsitans feeds upon warthogs, oxen, buffaloes, kudus, and humans. About 6% of G. m. s.'s bloodmeals come from birds (excluding ostriches).

Genome A sequence was made available in 2014. Among other results this reveals that G. morsitans's genome has incorporated some of its Wolbachia symbiont's genome (see also § Symbionts below). The sense of taste of G. m. m. lacks the sense of sweetness – which may be due to its exclusively hematophagous diet.

Genetics G. morsitans carries three Ago2 genes according to data compiled by Mongelli & Saleh 2016 and three Ago3 genes.

Symbionts G. m. m. is in obligate symbiosis with Wigglesworthia glossinidia and Wolbachia. Without Wigglesworthia, G. m. m. is sterile, and without Wolbachia they are reproductively incompatible with normal flies.

Economic impact Trypanosomiasis transmitted by G. morsitans and other tsetse species is one of the largest economic problems Africa faces. It has radically altered the cattle agroeconomy across the middle of Africa, severely shrinking the cattle pastoral lifestyle by shrinking the extent of safe grazing lands. This has left about 10,400,000 square kilometres (4,000,000 sq mi) of otherwise usable land devoid of cattle. Raising cattle in the manner common in 1963, this would have allowed for another 125,000,000 head - more than doubling the 114,000,000 being raised at the time.

References

Further reading Lehane, M J; Aksoy, S; Gibson, W; Kerhornou, A; Berriman, M; Hamilton, J; Soares, M B; Bonaldo, M F; Lehane, S; Hall, N (2003). "Adult midgut expressed sequence tags from the tsetse fly Glossina morsitans morsitans and expression analysis of putative immune response genes". Genome Biology. 4 (10). Springer Science and Business Media LLC: R63. doi:10.1186/gb-2003-4-10-r63. ISSN 1465-6906. PMC 328452. PMID 14519198.

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Glossina morsitans

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Glossina morsitans claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Glossina morsitans before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Glossina morsitans ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Glossina morsitans

In research: Glossina morsitans appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Glossina morsitans in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Glossina morsitans is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Hippoboscoidea, Insect vectors of human pathogens, Insects described in 1851, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Glossina morsitans outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

Ask Teacher Smith questions about this articleOpens your AI tutor with a question about “Glossina morsitans” →

Affiliate

Preply — study more efficiently by working with a personal tutor. 50% off.

How to study Glossina morsitans in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Glossina morsitans means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Glossina morsitans out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Glossina morsitans in simple terms?

Glossina morsitans is a species of tsetse fly (genus Glossina). It is one of the major vectors of Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense in African savannas.

Why does Glossina morsitans matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Glossina morsitans?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Glossina morsitans.