Food and feeding behaviour of the little bee-eater Merops pusillus in relation to tsetse fly control by insecticides

The little bee-eater Merops pusillus feeds close to the ground as a ‘flycatcher’, returning to a perch after each feeding attempt. Food remains from nine localities in west, central and southern Africa showed that the diet in the breeding season consists of a wide variety of insects 4·5–35 mm long. 57% were Hymenoptera, mainly Apoidea, and the remainder mostly Coleoptera, Diptera and Odonata. Observations in an area sprayed for tsetse fly control suggest that the species could be used as an indicator of the effects of pesticide applications on day-flying insects.