Anopheles mosquitoes

1. ECOLOGICAL SIGNIFICANCE

1.1. - Their larvae are important food to aquatic inhabitants such as fish. The adult mosquito are also important part of the food chain.

1.2. -The larvae feed on decaying leaves, organic detritus and microorganisms in water bodies.

1.3. - Some male mosquitoes are important pollinators of certain plant species as they get nutrient from the nectars.

1.4. -The presence of types (species) of Anopheles mosquito will influence the intensity of Malaria transmission as not all are equally good vectors in transmitting the disease to humans.

1.5. - Insecticide resistance will affect the efficiency of Malaria transmission.

1.6. - Refractoriness of some species involved in Malaria control might limit or eliminate transmission of this disease.

2. MEDICAL SIGNIFICANCE

2.1. - Identification of mosquitoes can improve the success in controlling arthropod-borne diseases as many species are capable of disease transmission.

2.2. - Conscise and accurate guides to the medically important arthropods as reference material needed to develop preventive medicine or treatment.

2.3. - To achieve Malaria eradication by maintaining the momentum of drugs, vaccine and diagnostics Research & Developmental processes leading to better tools and treatment.

2.4. - Mosquito control is an important component of Malaria control strategy.

2.5. - Order- specific PCR diagnostic assay based on cytochrome b can identify avian blood meals from mosquitoes. Vertebrate- specific mutiplexed primer set based on cytochrome b used to identify the mammalian blood host. This might be useful in the study of zoonotic disease transmission.

3. FORENSIC SIGNIFICANCE

3.1. - Genetic profiles obtained from human blood in digestive tract of mosquito can assist in crime investigation in closed environment.

3.2. - Intrinsic features of biology and behaviour of mosquitoes have potential advantage to be used as forensic evidence.

3.3. - The Polymerase Chain Reaction, PCR-based identification of arthropod blood meals is useful in detection of DNA profiling and blood host identification.

4. REFERENCES

4.1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2015, June 10). Ecology of Malaria. Retrieved December 17, 2017, from CDC - Malaria - About Malaria - Biology - Ecology of Malaria

4.2. Foote, R. H., & Cook, D. R. (1959). Mosquitoes of medical importance. Washington: US Department of Agriculture. doi:https://naldc.nalusda.gov/naldc/download.xhtml?id=CAT87208682&content=PDF

4.3. Rabelo, K., Albuquerque, C., Tavares, V., Santos, S., Souza, C., Oliveira, T., . . . Crovella, S. (2015). Trace samples of human blood in mosquitoes as a forensic investigation tool. Genetics and Molecular Research, 14(4), 14847-14856. doi:10.4238/2015.november.18.50

5. TAXONOMIC CLASSIFICATION

5.1. Kingdom : Animalia

5.2. Phylum : Arthropoda

5.3. Subphylum : Hexapoda

5.4. Class : Insecta

5.5. Order : Diptera

5.6. Family : Culicidae

5.7. Subfamily : Anophelinae

5.8. Genus : Anopheles

5.9. Species :

5.9.1. Anopheles freeborni

6. DESCRIPTION

6.1. Common name : Anopheline mosquito

6.2. Egg shape & size : elongated, oval, pointed at one end and boated shape with 0.5mm in size

6.3. Life cycle includes the egg, larva, pupa and adult stages.

6.4. Adult stage mosquito have bodies comprising of head, thorax and abdomen that are well defined. Antennae and palps used to infer male and female mosquito.

7. EDUCATIONAL SIGNIFICANCE

7.1. - The need for improvement of life conditions in terms of sanitary improvement to stop spread of Malaria and also many other diseases. This can only be achieved through studying the mosquitoes life cycle, habitat and behaviour.

7.2. - Basis of zoological studies.

7.3. - Basis of many potential research studies for example the favourability of blood meals of different organisms by these mosquitoes can be done by analysing blood components.

8. ECONOMIC SIGNIFICANCE

8.1. - These mosquitoes are a menace to the public's health as they are intermediate hosts in development of many parasitic organism causing diseases.

8.2. - Influences agricultural development of an infested area for example reduction of dairy production from infected cattles and also lower fruit production as no pickers dare to do the job when mosquitoes swarm in.

8.3. - Affects the availability of a territory for development as residential district. Price of property decreases due to mosquito pest problems in such areas. For example, New Jersey has a lot of accessible and ideal in situation places but mosquito pest problems due to higher breeding grounds from surrounding marsh lands affects it's sales in the property markets.