Abstract
The structure of the head and especially of the mouth-parts of these economically very important flies has been studied by many observers. The first very brief remarks on the proboscis were made by Wiedemann (1830), in his original description of the genusGlossina. He pointed out that the proboscis is almost as long as the thorax, and setiform and triangular in its basal part, the palps almost as long as the proboscis and horizontal. In the same year, Robineau-Desvoidy (1830) described another species of tsetse-fly,Glossina palpalis, but under the generic nameNemorphina, which became a synonym ofGlossina. In his diagnosis of the genus, he gave an even shorter description of the proboscis which he believed was not adapted for sucking blood.