MOSQUITOES - A Lethal Bunch of Killers
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There are three groups of mosquito that are all a nuisance to man.
In the proboscis there are six slender lancets which are modified mouthparts used to pierce the skin and inject the anti-coagulant saliva. Disease organisms are then injected with the saliva.
In the proboscis there are six slender lancets which are modified mouthparts used to pierce the skin and inject the anti-coagulant saliva. Disease organisms are then injected with the saliva.
Culex Mosquito
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Disease:
Elephantiasis |
Anophelese Mosquito
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Disease:
Malaria Dengue Fever Spotted wings and raised posture at rest. |
Aedes Aegypti Mosquito
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Disease:
Yellow Fever Dengue Fever Elaphantiasis Black and white bands on legs and abdomen. |
Identification
Male ................................ Feathery antennae ....................... Lives off the nectar of flowers and juices
Female ............................. Thread-like antennae ................... Lives off blood
Male ................................ Feathery antennae ....................... Lives off the nectar of flowers and juices
Female ............................. Thread-like antennae ................... Lives off blood
How a Malaria Carrying Mosquito Works ...
As a female Anopheles mosquito with the parasite drinks her fill, she transmits many threadlike structures, call sporozoites, into the new host.
As a female Anopheles mosquito with the parasite drinks her fill, she transmits many threadlike structures, call sporozoites, into the new host.
- These sporozoites travel to the liver, where they multiple and form another kind of spore called a merozoite.
- The merozoites enter the bloodstream and penetrate the red blood cells, where they devour haemoglobin, the chemical that transports oxygen.
- When the blood cell disintegrates, the metozoites - now multiplied 16-fold - escape and infect other blood cells.
- A few merozoites form a sexual stage, which can be sucked up by another mosquito taking a meal.
- Two sexually active merozoites meet in the mosquito's gut and produce a new generation of parasites.
- This mosquito can transmit the infection only if she sucks more blood from an uninfected person before she dies.