Monday, July 25, 2011

Anopheles


Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Diptera
Family: Cullicidae
Tribe: Anophelini
Genus: Anopheles


As u can see that Anopheles belongs to a different subfamily if compared to Aedes. There are 460 species of Anopheles and 100 of it could transmit Plasmodium spp which causes Malaria, they also could transmit other parasites which as W.Bancrofti or B.Malayi which causes filariasis in humans.

In Msia, we can find A.maculatus and A.dirus. Both are able to transmit Plasmodium spp. They prefer to lay eggs in natural setting unlike its cousin,Aedes. The unique feature of its eggs is that they have floats on either side. The adults would lay the eggs singularly and directly on water.

The larvae of Anopheles don't have a siphon and often rests parallel to the water surface unlike its Cullicinae cousins. Larvaes are found in fresh/salt-water marshes,mangrove swamps, rice fields and etc.

The adults will rest with their abs sticking up to air. They are nocturnal creatures.

Their life span is around 1-2 weeks.

ps: no citation is needed as this is just a general intro on the genus.

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