Mosquitoes are small, midge-like flies. Females of most species are ectoparasites, whose tube-like mouth parts pierce the hosts' skin to consume blood. The word "mosquito" is Spanish for "little fly". Mosquitoes have six legs. They also have a head, thorax and abdomen. Mosquitoes can't fly very far or very fast. The Anophelesis a malaria carrier, and the other two are known to spread various forms of encephalitis. Only female mosquitoes bite and suck the blood.

2. Mosquitoes
Mosquitoes are small, midge-like flies. Females of most species are
ectoparasites, whose tube-like mouth parts pierce the hosts' skin to
consume blood. The word "mosquito" is Spanish for "little fly".

3. Mosquitoes have six legs. They also have a head, thorax and
abdomen. Mosquitoes can't fly very far or very fast. The
Anophelesis a malaria carrier, and the other two are known to
spread various forms of encephalitis. Only female mosquitoes bite
and suck the blood.

4. Both male and female feed mainly on fruit and plant nectar, but the
female also needs the protein in blood to help her eggs develop. Once
she's had her fill of blood, she'll rest for a couple of days before
laying her eggs.

5. Male mosquitoes indentify females mosquitioes by the sound of
their wings. Females can beat their wings up to 500 times per
second. Mosquitoes can smell human breatha. They have receptors
on their antennae that detect the carbon dioxide released when we
exhale. There are more than 3,500 species of mosquitoes.

6. Malaria is caused by a parasite that lives in mosquitoes. The
parasite gets into mosquito saliva and is passed on when the insect
bites someone. Mosquitoes are considered the deadliest “animal” in
the world.

7. Plasmodium:
The Anopheles mosquito, in particular, is dangerous because it
transmits malaria, which kills more than one million people every
year, primarily in Africa. Malaria is transmitted to humans by
female mosquitoes of the genus Anopheles. Female mosquitoes take
blood meals for egg production, and these blood meals are the link
between the human and the mosquito hosts in the parasite life cycle.

8. Malaria is caused by a one-celled parasite called a Plasmodium.
Female Anopheles mosquitoes pick up the parasite from infected
people when they bite to obtain blood needed to nurture their eggs.
Inside the mosquito the parasites reproduce and develop.

9. The female anopheles mosquito transfer malaria in order to obtain
proteins from the human blood plasma, which they use in their eggs.
The male does not need these proteins hence they do not transfer
malaria. Only female mosquitos take a blood meal, as they need to to
produce eggs.

11. How to test malaria
looking at the blood slide under the microscope. This microscope
makes things look thousand times bigger. The details inside the
blood can be seen clearly. There are some microscopes which make
things look even more bigger than this one. Malaria parasites can be
identified by examining under the microscope a drop of the patient's
blood, spread out as a “blood smear” on a microscope slide. Prior to
examination, the specimen is stained (most often with the Giemsa
stain) to give the parasites a distinctive appearance.

12. Medicine for Malaria
From early times, the dried and powdered bark of the Cinchona tree
was used to make a medicine for malaria. Earlier people used to boil
the bark powder and strain the water which was given to patients.
Now tablets are made from this.

13. Anaemia–What’s that?
The most common cause of anemia is low levels of iron in the body.
This type of anemia is called iron-deficiency anemia. Your body
needs a certain amount of iron to make hemoglobin, the substance
that moves oxygen throughout your body. However, iron-deficiency
anemia is just one type.

14. If there is less ‘hemoglobin’ or iron in the blood. The doctor gave
some medicines to give me strength. He also said that I should eat
jiggery, amla and more green leafy vegetables, because these have
iron.

15. Anaemia common in Delhi school -17 November, 2007 – Thousands
of children studying in the Municipal Corporation schools in Delhi
suffer from anaemia. This is affecting both their physical as well as
mental health. Due to anaemia, children do not grow well, and their
energy levels are low.

16. This also affects their ability to study properly. Now health check
ups are being done in the schools and health cards are being made
for all the children. Anaemia children are also being given iron
tablets.

17. Baby mosquitoes:
Many factors make malaria vaccine development challenging.
The malaria parasite develops both in humans and in the female
Anopheles mosquitoes. The size and genetic complexity of the
parasite mean that each infection presents thousands of antigens
(proteins) to the human immune system.

18. The parasite also changes through several life stages even while in
the human host, presenting different antigens at different stages of
its life cycle.

19. Understanding which of these can be a useful target for vaccine
development has been complicated. In addition, the parasite has
developed a series of strategies that allow it to confuse, hide, and
misdirect the human immune system.

20. Then how do they spread diseases?
Malaria infection begins when an infected female Anopheles
mosquito bites a person, injecting Plasmodium parasites, in the form
of Sporozoites, into the bloodstream. The Sporozoites pass quickly
into the human liver. The Sporozoites multiply asexually in the liver
cells over the next 7 to 10 days, causing no symptoms.

21. In an animal model, the parasites, in the form of Merozoites, are
released from the liver cells in vesicles, journey through the heart,
and arrive in the lungs, where they settle within lung capillaries. The
vesicles eventually disintegrate, freeing the Merozoites to enter the
blood phase of their development.

22. In the bloodstream, the Merozoites invade red blood cells
(erythrocytes) and multiply again until the cells burst. Then they
invade more erythrocytes. This cycle is repeated, causing fever each
time parasites break free and invade blood cells.

23. Some of the infected blood cells leave the cycle of asexual
multiplication. Instead of replicating, the Merozoites in these cells
develop into sexual forms of the parasite, called gametocytes, that
circulate in the blood stream.

24. When a mosquito bites an infected human, it ingests the
gametocytes, which develop further into mature sex cells called
gametes.

25. The fertilized female gametes develop into actively moving ooziness
that burrow through the mosquito's midgut wall and form oocysts
on the exterior surface. Inside the oocyst, thousands of active
Sporozoites develop. The oocyst eventually bursts, releasing
Sporozoites into the body cavity that travel to the mosquito's
salivary glands.

26. Plasmodium is a genus of parasitic protozoans that fall under the
family Apicomplexa, Plasmodium is known to infect the red blood
cells in mammals like humans, birds, reptiles and so on. P. knowlesi
is the species of plasmodium that causes the infectious disease known
as Malaria. Malaria occurs when the infected female Anopheles
mosquito bites human beings or any other mammal.

27. Some other species of plasmodium known to spread Malaria are P.
vivax, P. ovule, P. malaria, and P. knowlesi. The plasmodium parasite
displays a complex life cycle as it uses an insect (mosquito) as a
catalyst to carry and transmit the disease.

28. Life Cycle of Plasmodium
Plasmodium parasites have a complex life cycle that includes three
stages namely Gametocytes, Sporozoites and Merozoites.

29. Gametocytes:
The male gametocytes called microgametocyte's and female
gametocytes called microgametocyte are transmitted through an
anopheles mosquito during a blood meal. The gametocytes within
the mosquito develop into a Sporozoites. The male and female
gametocytes mate inside the gut of the mosquito, and after 15 to 18
days, they form a parasite called Sporozoites.

30. Sporozoites:
When the infected mosquito feeds on humans, the Sporozoites are
transmitted through the saliva into the bloodstream. After that, the
Sporozoites enter the liver cells and here they mature into schizonts.
Later, these Sporozoites rupture and release Merozoites.

31. Merozoites:
Over the next one or two weeks, each schizonts multiplies in order to
form several other forms known as Merozoites. The Merozoites exit
from the lever, entering the bloodstream again and here they attack
the red blood cells. The Merozoites grow and multiply more while
destroying all blood cells in that process.

32. Certain Merozoites develop into gametocytes, which is later ingested
into the bloodstream by a mosquito and the whole cycle starts again.
When the red blood cells are destroyed by the Merozoites, it releases
a toxin that causes bone-shaking chills and fever. Extreme cold chills
and fever are classic symptoms of malaria in human beings.

33. The evolution of plasmodium evolved in parallel with the vertebrate
evolution for the past 120 million years. Therefore, the plasmodium
has gone through new hosts, which is followed by adaptation to those
hosts, which shows the primary reason for the evolution of the
plasmodium. Several species of plasmodium have been isolated from
the chimpanzees that include, P. gaboni, P. falciparum, P. ovale and
P. reichenowi. The other species are isolated from gorillas.
Plasmodium parasites found in reptiles are P. mexicanum and P.
floridense and plasmodium in birds include P. relictum and P.
juxtanucleare.

34. LIIFE CYCLE OF MOSQUITOES
Mosquitoes have four distinctive life stages, with the first three
stages being spent in the water.
Egg Stage
An adult female lays about 100-400 eggs in clusters called rafts,
which float on the surface of the water, or eggs may be laid singly on
the surface of the water or the waters edge depending on the species
of mosquito. Within 2-3 days the eggs hatch into larvae.

35. Larval Stage:
The larvae come to the surface to breathe through a tube called a
siphon and feed on small organic particles and microorganisms in
the water.

36. Larvae are found in a wide variety of standing water sources
including neglected swimming pools, ditches, storm drains, rice
fields, irrigated pastures, tree holes, log ponds, snow pools, ponds,
artificial containers, and even discarded car tires. Larvae their skin
or molt four times during the next several days or weeks. On the
fourth molt it changes into a pupa.

37. Pupal Stage:
The pupa cannot eat. It breathes through two tubes on its back.
The adult mosquito grows inside the pupa and in several days,
when it is fully developed, it splits the pupal skin and emerges to
complete the life cycle of the mosquito. The newly emerged adult
mosquito rests on the surface of the water until it is strong enough
to fly away and feed.

38. Adult Stage:
The newly emerged adult mosquito rests on the surface of the water
until it is strong enough to fly. Female mosquitoes require a blood
meal to lay eggs. Male mosquitoes do not feed on blood. Diseases are
transmitted when female mosquitoes feed on an infected host and
then feed on an uninfected host.

39. Fast Facts:
All mosquitoes must have water to complete their life cycle.
Mosquitoes do not develop in grass or shrubbery, although adults
frequently rest in these areas during daylight hours. Only the female
mosquito bites to obtain a blood meal. The male mosquito feeds only
on plant juices. Female mosquitoes are attracted by heat and carbon
dioxide to hosts such as humans, mammals, and birds.

40. •The female mosquito may live as long as three weeks during the
summer or several months over the winter in order to lay her eggs in
the following spring.

41. Where do mosquitoes live and breed?
Mosquitoes rest in tall grass, weeds, and brush near inhabited
locations such as homes and other buildings. Mosquitoes breed in
stagnant, standing fresh water oftentimes found around the home.

42. •In tin cans, buckets, discarded tires and other artificial containers
that hold stagnant water. In untended pools, birdbaths, clogged rain
gutters, and plastic wading pools that hold stagnant water.

43. Practice good pond mosquito control:
If you have a pond or still water on your property, you may not be
able to remove it. You can make it less of a mosquito haven, however,
by adding mosquito fish – also known as gambusia affinis. A single
fish can eat more than 200 mosquito larvae in 60 minutes. Another
option for your pond is to introduce bacteria known as Bti (Bacillus
thuringiensis) to kill larvae in your pond.

44. Keep your barrels covered with a fine mesh fabric to prevent
mosquitoes from getting through. You can also keep the barrel
covered even when rain isn’t coming as a more permanent
preventative measure. If covering isn’t an option, you can empty out
your barrels within 24 hours of a rain before larvae have a chance to
hatch.

45. Have A Running Birdbath
Birdbaths usually contain still water, but you can eliminate this
problem by introducing a small pump to keep the water moving. If
this keeps the birds away, you can schedule daily replacement of the
water to keep mosquitoes from breeding.

46. Garden ornaments, flowerpots, and even paving stones can collect
water and become a breeding ground for mosquitoes. For potted
plants, encourage good drainage. This will improve the health of
your plants, while also preventing mosquitoes. For garden
ornaments, look for hollow pieces with small drilled holes to allow
water to drain away.