Tsetse fly

Tsetse flies are large biting flies that inhabit much of tropical Africa. Tsetse flies include all the species in the genus Glossina, which are placed in their own family, Glossinidae. The tsetse is an obligate parasite that lives by feeding on the blood of vertebrate animals. Tsetse flies have been extensively studied because of their role in transmitting disease. They have pronounced economic and public health consequences in sub-Saharan Africa as the biological vectors of trypanosomes, causing human and animal trypanosomiasis.