Chemical notes of tsetse fly mating

As described nearly half a century ago, the tsetse fly lies at the center of a vast and complex biological system extending across Africa, "destroying man and his animals and stifling the economy" [(1), p.5]. These words still resonate today in sub-Saharan Africa, where tsetse flies continue to threaten millions of people and livestock by transmitting life-threatening diseases and destroying the economy (2, 3). Indeed, a goal for global health outlined by the World Health Organization includes the sustainable elimination of tsetse-borne diseases by 2030 and emphasizes controlling flies as a primary strategy. Tsetse flies, like many other vectors of disease, display robust olfactory-driven behaviors to navigate toward a host for feeding and to a suitable mate (4). On page 660 of this issue, Ebrahim et al. (5) report the identification of volatile pheromones that control mating behavior in tsetse flies. This could bolster the arsenal of tools to manage the spread of disease by these insects.