The bloodsucking insect with a saw for a mouth: how the tsetse fly bites through almost anything
Researchers are studying the tsetse fly's unique mouthparts to better understand how they transmit parasitic diseases like sleeping sickness. While public health efforts have reduced human cases, the fly remains a significant economic threat to livestock and rural communities in sub-Saharan Africa.
Why it matters
The tsetse fly causes billions of dollars in economic losses and remains a major barrier to agricultural development and food security in Africa.
Tsetse fly. Nevit Dilmen/Wikimedia Commons The bloodsucking insect with a saw for a mouth: how the tsetse fly bites through almost anything Published: August 19, 2026 9:27am EDT https://theconversation.com/the-bloodsucking-insect-with-a-saw-for-a-mouth-how-the-tsetse-fly-bites-through-almost-anything-289260 https://theconversation.com/the-bloodsucking-insect-with-a-saw-for-a-mouth-how-the-tsetse-fly-bites-through-almost-anything-289260 Link copied Share article Share article
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Tsetse flies transmit some of Africa’s most persistent parasitic diseases. They have affected human health, livestock production and rural development for generations, across a region spanning millions of square kilometres in 37 sub-Saharan countries .
Human African trypanosomiasis , or sleeping sickness, is caused by two species of single-celled parasites. Others infect wild and domestic animals, causing animal trypanosomosis , often called nagana in cattle.
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