Amal Almuhanna 2012

Mosquitoes are small insects with piercing- sucking mouthparts. Scaly wings. Female mosquitoes suck blood cannot The males cannot suck blood but both sexes feed on nectar of various plants. In some species of mosquito, the females feed on humans, and are therefore vectors for a number of infectious diseases affecting millions of people per year.

 Body is small, fragile, 3-6mm long.  A slightly shorter spread of its narrow wings.  Its body, like that of other insects, consists of head, thorax, and abdomen.  The round head has a long proboscis (tubular mouth part) and antennae.

 In the male, long hairs on the antennae give these appendages a feathery appearance.  Hairs on the antennae of the female are shorter.  The mosquito's slender legs are attached to the triangular thorax.  The abdomen is long and narrow

1.Antenna: plumose in male, pilose in female 2.Mouthparts: piercing and sucking type. 3.Proboscis and 6 needles. 4.palp 5.Feeding 6.External genitalia

 Mosquitoes have mouthparts which are adapted for piercing the skin of plants and animals.  They typically feed on nectar and plant juices.

 Piercing and sucking mouth-parts is that suited for piercing the tissues of plants and animals and sucking up their sap or blood.  The labium forms a long, cylindrical, 3-segmented

 The maxillae, each has 2 grooves on its inner surface. When they fit together, two tubes are formed between them.  The labrum is small and situated over the base of the proboscis.  The labium bears 2-terminal sensory labella.  The maxillary palps are well developed ( in male 5-segmened and in female 3-segmented).

 Single pair of membranous wings.  The other (hind pair) is modified into small knobbed sensory structures known as halteres.

 Mosquitoes are aquatic in their early stages.  Mosquitoes go through four stages in their life cycle: egg, larva, pupa, and adult or imago.  The first three stages are aquatic.  Adult females lay their eggs in water.  5–14 days, depending on the species and the ambient temperature; eggs hatch to become larvae, then pupae.  The adult mosquito emerges from the pupa as it floats at the water surface.

 Flower pollination.  In some species of mosquito, the females feed on humans, and are therefore vectors for a number of infectious diseases affecting millions of people per year.

 Now, we will study three genera with medical importance:  Aedes  Culex  Anopheles Aedes Culex Anopheles

 Initially white eggs turn a shiny black color a few minutes after being laid.  The egg shell has a mosaic pattern.  Egg are laid on a damp substrates just beyond the water line.  It can withstand desiccation (they can be dry but viable for many months).

 Larvae hang head down from the surface of the water with their posterior breathing tube (siphon) extended above the surface for air.  There is only one pair of sub-ventral tufts of hairs.  There are three pair of setae on the ventral brush.  Larvae have length siphon.  Aedes larvae hang down from the water surface at an angle.

 The pupa is located on the surface of the water where it breathes through a pair of air tubes or trumpets.  This stage of the mosquito is commonly referred to as a "tumbler" because its form is larval.

 Under optimal conditions, the egg of an Aedes mosquito can hatch into a larva in less than a day.  The larva then takes about four days to develop in a pupa, from which an adult mosquito will emerge after two days.  Three days after the mosquito has bitten a person and taken in blood, it will lay eggs, and the cycle begins again.

 The name comes from the Greek aēdēs meaning "unpleasant" or "odious", dengue fever filariasis  So called because of the diseases this type of mosquito transmits, including dengue fever and yellow fever. In Polynesia, the species Aedes polynesiensis is responsible for the transmission of human lymphatic filariasis

 3 famous culex species 1.C. pipiens 2.C. quinquefasciatus 3.C. tarsalis

Culex pipiensquinquefasciatus tarsalis

 Culex lays their eggs on the surface of fresh or stagnant water.  Mosquitoes prefer water sheltered from the wind by grass and weeds.  Culex egg is brown, long and cylindrical.  It may lay 300 eggs up-right on the water surface.  Culesx eggs are placed together to form an egg raft.  They are adhered to each other due to surface forces.

Culex mosquito laying eggs.

 It has long, narrow siphon. - There are more than one pair of sub-ventral tufts of hairs on the siphon, non of them near its base

 A Culex pupa floats on top of the water for one to four days while it transforms into an adult mosquito.  The pupal phase is a non-feeding, resting stage.

1. Annoyance pest : A mosquito bite may induce local dermatitis or even systematic reaction in sensitive persons. 2. Disease Carrier: Often a carrier of diseases, such as Filariasis, encephalitis, yellow fever, dengue fever, dog heartworm, West Nile virus, and many others. The females, who drink blood, can carry disease from one animal to another as they feed

 Some species Anopheles acanthotorynus Anopheles albimanus Anopheles albitarsis

floats on either side  Eggs are laid singly directly on water and are unique in having floats on either side.  Eggs are not resistant to drying and hatch within 2-3 days, although hatching may take up to 2-3 weeks in colder climates

do not have a siphon and they lay parallel to the water surface.  Anopheles larvae do not have a siphon and they lay parallel to the water surface.  The larva feed on micro-organisms and organic matter in the water.  On the fourth molt the larva changes into a pupa.

 As with the larvae, pupae must come to the surface frequently to breathe, which they do through a pair of respiratory trumpets on the cephalothorax.  The pupa is comma-shaped.  Pupae do not feed during this stage.  The pupa is less active than larvae

 Malaria  Malaria parasites are transmitted from one person to another by the female anopheline mosquito.  There are about 380 species of anopheline mosquito, but only 60 or so are able to transmit the parasite.

Aedes Culex Anopheles

Singly on water surface Singly on water surface Anopheles Anopheles Singly in a pile, on moist substrates Singly in a pile, on moist substrates Aedes Aedes Form of a raft, on water surface Form of a raft, on water surface Culex Culex Aedes Culex Anopheles

Anopheles

Aedes Culex Anopheles Culicine Anopheline

Culicine Anopheline Adult Stage Comparison

females males Anopheline Culicine Comparison of male and female Anophelines vs. Culicines