Means of distinguishing Anopheles males and females ( n.b. only females bite and transmit disease ) and identification of some important vector species

Head of female Anopheles; note not very bushy antennae; long palps with white bands; proboscis & compound eye.

Head of male Anopheles: note bushy antennae and palps with knobs

Anopheles gambiae; note slightly spotted legs, palps with long white apex and narrow sub-apical white band.

Anopheles funestus; note unspotted legs and dark body; apical and sub-apical white bands equal in length; second most important vector in Africa; morphologically very similar to An.minimus which is one of the important vectors in S.E.Asia

Anopheles dirus; note white “knees” on hind legs; major malaria vector in forests of South East Asia

Anopheles culicifacies; note that unlike most Anopheles it does not stand with its tail in the air; includes the main rural malaria vectors in India and Sri Lanka.

Anopheles stephensi: note spotted legs like An.gambiae but sub-apical white band on palps is quite long and breeding habitat is tanks and wells in Indian sub-continent

An.albimanus and An.darlingi (sub-genus Nysorryhnchus) both have white hind “feet” but differ in details of wing veins. An.albimanus is main vector in Central America and western South America, An.darlingi main vector in north eastern South America

An.maculipennis complex of sub-genus Anopheles from temperate zone with no bands on front edge of wing unlike tropical species; spots at junctions of wing veins. These were formally vectors of P.vivax in Europe

Anopheles plumbeus Note: no spots on wings, black body; bites humans and breeds in water in tree holes in London. Susceptible to infection with Plasmodium falciparum