There are 112 genera of mosquitoes, containing approximately 3,500 species. [1]
Human malaria is transmitted only by females of the genus Anopheles . Of the approximately 430 Anopheles species, while over 100 are known to be able to transmit malaria to humans, only 30–40 commonly do so in nature. Mosquitoes in other genera can transmit different diseases, such as yellow fever and dengue for species in the genus Aedes . The genus Aedes has over 950 species. [1]
Since breeding and biting habit differ considerably between species, species identification is important for control programmes.
Anopheles is a genus of mosquito first described by J. W. Meigen in 1818, and are known as nail mosquitoes and marsh mosquitoes. Many such mosquitoes are vectors of the parasite Plasmodium, a genus of protozoans that cause malaria in birds, reptiles, and mammals, including humans. The Anopheles gambiae mosquito is the best-known species of marsh mosquito that transmits the Plasmodium falciparum, which is a malarial parasite deadly to human beings; no other mosquito genus is a vector of human malaria.
Nepenthesinfauna are the organisms that inhabit the pitchers of Nepenthes plants. These include fly and midge larvae, spiders, mites, ants, and even a species of crab, Geosesarma malayanum. The most common and conspicuous predators found in pitchers are mosquito larvae, which consume large numbers of other larvae during their development. Many of these animals are so specialised that they cannot survive anywhere else, and are referred to as nepenthebionts.
The Culicinae are the most extensive subfamily of mosquitoes (Culicidae) and have species in every continent except Antarctica, but are highly concentrated in tropical areas. Mosquitoes are best known as parasites to many vertebrate animals and vectors for disease. They are holometabolous insects, and most species lay their eggs in stagnant water, to benefit their aquatic larval stage.
The discipline of medical entomology, or public health entomology, and also veterinary entomology is focused upon insects and arthropods that impact human health. Veterinary entomology is included in this category, because many animal diseases can "jump species" and become a human health threat, for example, bovine encephalitis. Medical entomology also includes scientific research on the behavior, ecology, and epidemiology of arthropod disease vectors, and involves a tremendous outreach to the public, including local and state officials and other stake holders in the interest of public safety.
Philip James Barraud was an English entomologist who specialised in mosquitoes. He wrote the Fauna of British India volume on the mosquitoes.
Ochlerotatus is a genus of mosquito. Until 2000, it was ranked as a subgenus of Aedes, but after Reinert's work, the clade was upgraded to the level of a genus. This change has resulted in the renaming of many subgenus species, and many aedini-related taxa are undergoing taxonomic revisions. Some authors are still using traditional taxonomic names in their publications.
Anopheles is a genus of mosquitoes (Culicidae) with about 484 recognised species.
Coquillettidia perturbans is a species of mosquito that have been documented in every continent except Antarctica. This mosquito is a known as a vector of West Nile virus and Eastern equine encephalomyelitis. The geographic range of C. perturbans is increasing due to the growing extensity of the feeding area. They are known to exist throughout the United States, mainly with a southern distribution, and are mammalophilic.
Anopheles claviger is a mosquito species found in Palearctic realm covering Europe, North Africa, northern Arabian Peninsula, and northern Asia. It is responsible for transmitting malaria in some of these regions. The mosquito is made up of a species complex consisting of An. claviger sensu stricto and An. petragnani Del Vecchio. An. petragnani is found only in western Mediterranean region, and is reported to bite only animals; hence, it is not involved in human malaria.
Francisco Edlagan Baisas was a Philippine entomologist regarded as the "Dean of Philippine Culicidologists" whose "contributions to the knowledge of Philippine mosquitoes is without measure". His passing was described as the end of "an era which saw the elucidation of the malaria vectors of the Philippines and great progress made in the control of a disease which had accounted for as many as 2,000,000 cases annually in those islands."
Lutzia is a genus of mosquitos. First described in 1903 by Frederick Vincent Theobald, it includes species whose larval stages exhibit predatory behavior. The type species is Lutzia bigoti.
Sabethes or canopy mosquitos are primarily an arboreal genus, breeding in plant cavities. The type species is Sabethes locuples, first described by Jean-Baptiste Robineau-Desvoidy in 1827.
Aedini is a mosquito tribe in the subfamily Culicinae. It is the main tribe of mosquitoes with 1256 species classified in 81 genera and two groups incertae sedis.
Chagasia is one of the three mosquito genera in the subfamily Anophelinae. The other two genera are Anopheles Meigen and Bironella Theobald. The subfamily consists of five species in the Neotropical region. These include C. ablusa Harbach, C. bathana Dyar, C. bonneae Root, C. fajardi Lutz and C. rozeboomi Causey, Deane & Deane.
Aedes (Verrallina) butleri, sometimes as Verrallina butleri, is a species of zoophilic mosquito belonging to the genus Aedes. It is found in Sri Lanka Malaysia, Singapore, Java, Borneo, Philippines, Indochina, Thailand, and Maluku.
Aedes scatophagoides is a species complex of zoophilic mosquito belonging to the Mucidus Group of the genus Aedes.
Culex (Lutzia) fuscanus is a species of mosquito belonging to the genus Culex. It is found in China, India, Indonesia and Sri Lanka They are natural predators of disease causing mosquito larva such as Aedes aegypti, Anopheles subpictus, and Culex tritaeniorhynchus.
Wyeomyia is a genus of mosquitoes first described in 1901 by Frederick Vincent Theobald. The genus's 140 species can be difficult to characterize because of their diversity and the need for additional taxonomic work to further delineate them. Adults resemble genus Limatus and Sabethes mosquitoes more closely than other genera in the New World tribe Sabethini, but differ by their scutal scales ranging in color from a relatively dull bronzy with a slight metallic sheen in most species, to a metallic gold. There are other distinguishing characters as well.
Aedes scapularis is a species of mosquito primarily found in neo-tropical regions of the Americas.