Mosquitoes

Amal Almuhanna
2012
Introduction
• Mosquitoes are small insects with piercing-
sucking mouthparts.
• Scaly wings.
• Female mosquitoes suck blood
• 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.
Mosquito classification

• Kingdom: Animalia
• Phylum: Arthropod
• Class: Insecta
• Order : Diptera
• Family: Culicidae
• Common Genus : Anopheles,
Aedes, Culex
Mosquito morphology
Mosquito morphology
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.
Mosquito morphology
 Inthe 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

Male vs. female
Distinguishing of sexes

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
Male vs. female
Mouth Parts
Mosquitoes have mouthparts which are adapted
for piercing the skin of plants and animals.

They typically feed on nectar and plant juices.

Mouth Parts
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
Mouth Parts
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).
Wings
Single pair of
membranous
wings.

The other (hind

pair) is modified
into small knobbed
sensory structures
known as halteres.
Legs
Mosquito life cycle
 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.
Medical importance
 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

Description

Aedes adult
 Aedes species are typical
small mosquitoes.
 They usually have black
and white stripe markings
on their body and legs.
 Laid singly.
Aedes eggs

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).
Aedes larva
 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.

Aedes pupa

 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.
Life cycle of Aedes
Life cycle of Aedes

 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.
Medical importance of Aedes
The name comes from the Greek
aēdēs meaning "unpleasant" or
"odious",

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

Culex pipiens quinquefasciatus tarsalis

Description
Culex adult
Morphologically has the three
body parts common to insects:
head, thorax, and abdomen.
 As a fly, it has one pair of
wings.
 All types of mosquitoes must
have water to complete their
life cycles.
 Culex mosquitoes prefer small
bodies of still water full of
organic matter, such as tin
scans, bird baths or rain barrel
Culex egg
 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 egg

Culex mosquito laying eggs.

Culex larva
 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
Culex larva
Culex Pupa
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.
Culex Life Cycle
Medical importance of culex
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
Anopheles Mosquito
 Some species
• Anopheles acanthotorynus
• Anopheles albimanus
• Anopheles albitarsis
Description
Anopheles adult
The adult females can live up to
a month (or more in captivity)
but most probably do not live
more than 1-2 weeks in nature
Anopheles egg
 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
Anopheles larvae
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.
Anopheles pupae
 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
Anopheles life cycle
Medical importance of Anopheles
 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.
Summary (comparison)
1- Adult

Aedes Culex Anopheles

2- Eggs (3 strategies)
• Singly on water surface
• Anopheles
• Singly in a pile, on moist substrates
• Aedes
• Form of a raft, on water surface
• Culex

Anopheles Culex Aedes

3-Larval Stage – Growth Stage

Anopheles
4- Pupa

Aedes Culex Anopheles

Anopheline Culicine
Mosquito Pupa and Larvae
Anopheles Pupa and Larvae
5- Adults
Adult Stage Comparison

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

males