A survey of Stomoxys Geoffroy, 1762 (Diptera: Muscidae) in eight administrative regions of Cameroon

ABSTRACT Stomoxys Geoffroy, 1762 are major livestock pests in the tropics and are common in diverse habitats. This study aims to conduct a survey on the Stomoxys fauna of Cameroon. From 2015 to 2017, entomological studies using standard traps (n=204) were conducted in eight administrative regions found in five agro-ecological zones (AEZs) of Cameroon with 606 trap-points over 22,032 traps days. A total of 77,804 Stomoxys specimens were collected, with eight taxa consisting of six species (S. calcitrans (Linnaeus, 1758), S. omega Newstead, Dutton & Todd, 1907, S. xanthomelas Roubaud, 1937, S. inornatus Grunberg, 1906, S. transvittatus Villeneuve, 1916, and S. sitiens (Rondani, 1873)) and two subspecies (Stomoxys niger niger Macquart, 1851 and S. niger bilineatus Grunberg, 1906) identified. Among all the recorded taxa, S. calcitrans and S. n. niger were present in five and seven of the eight regions respectively, but S. sitiens was rare and only found in the North. Furthermore, the highest species number (seven out of eight) was recorded in the Guinee savanna of the Adamawa region. The highest apparent density range of 101 to 200 Stomoxys/ trap/ day (s/t/d) was recorded in the Sudan savanna AEZ of the Far North region. Stomoxys occurred in all the AEZs in eight regions, some of which are major cattle rearing regions. This represents risk for the mechanically transmission of dangerous pathogens in those regions.