Mosquitoes are approximately 3,600 species of small flies comprising the family Culicidae. The word "mosquito" is Spanish for "little fly". Mosquitoes have a slender segmented body, one pair of wings, one pair of halteres, three pairs of long hair-like legs, and elongated mouthparts.
Copepods are a group of small crustaceans found in nearly every freshwater and saltwater habitat. Some species are planktonic, some are benthic, a number of species have parasitic phases, and some continental species may live in limnoterrestrial habitats and other wet terrestrial places, such as swamps, under leaf fall in wet forests, bogs, springs, ephemeral ponds, puddles, damp moss, or water-filled recesses of plants (phytotelmata) such as bromeliads and pitcher plants. Many live underground in marine and freshwater caves, sinkholes, or stream beds. Copepods are sometimes used as biodiversity indicators.
Anopheles is a genus of mosquito first described and named by J. W. Meigen in 1818. About 460 species are recognised; while over 100 can transmit human malaria, only 30–40 commonly transmit parasites of the genus Plasmodium, which cause malaria in humans in endemic areas. Anopheles gambiae is one of the best known, because of its predominant role in the transmission of the most dangerous malaria parasite species – Plasmodium falciparum.
Aedes aegypti, the yellow fever mosquito, is a mosquito that can spread dengue fever, chikungunya, Zika fever, Mayaro and yellow fever viruses, and other disease agents. The mosquito can be recognized by black and white markings on its legs and a marking in the form of a lyre on the upper surface of its thorax. This mosquito originated in Africa, but is now found in tropical, subtropical and temperate regions throughout the world.
Cypovirus, short for cytoplasmic polyhedrosis virus, is a genus of double-stranded RNA viruses in the family Reoviridae and subfamily Spinareovirinae. Cypoviruses have only been isolated from insects. Diseases associated with this genus include chronic diarrhoea and pale blue iridescence in the guts of larvae. Sixteen species are placed in this genus.
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.
Spirobranchus giganteus, commonly known as the Christmas tree worm, is a tube-building polychaete worm belonging to the family Serpulidae.
Leeches are segmented parasitic or predatory worms that comprise the subclass Hirudinea within the phylum Annelida. They are closely related to the oligochaetes, which include the earthworm, and like them have soft, muscular segmented bodies that can lengthen and contract. Both groups are hermaphrodites and have a clitellum, but leeches typically differ from the oligochaetes in having suckers at both ends and in having ring markings that do not correspond with their internal segmentation. The body is muscular and relatively solid, and the coelom, the spacious body cavity found in other annelids, is reduced to small channels.
Hematophagy is the practice by certain animals of feeding on blood. Since blood is a fluid tissue rich in nutritious proteins and lipids that can be taken without great effort, hematophagy is a preferred form of feeding for many small animals, such as worms and arthropods. Some intestinal nematodes, such as Ancylostomatids, feed on blood extracted from the capillaries of the gut, and about 75 percent of all species of leeches are hematophagous. The spider Evarcha culicivora feeds indirectly on vertebrate blood by specializing on blood-filled female mosquitoes as their preferred prey. Some fish, such as lampreys and candirus; mammals, especially vampire bats; and birds, including the vampire finch, Hood mockingbird, Tristan thrush, and oxpeckers, also practise hematophagy.
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.
Uranotaenia is a genus of mosquitoes containing at least 270 species. It is the only member of the tribe Uranotaeniini.
Uranotaenia (Pseudoficalbia) bicolor is a species of mosquito belonging to the genus Uranotaenia. It is found in Thailand, Sri Lanka, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Nepal, Philippines and Vietnam.
Uranotaenia (Uranotaenia) campestris is a species of mosquito belonging to the genus Uranotaenia. It is found in Thailand, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Nepal, Timor, and Vietnam.
Uranotaenia (Uranotaenia) lateralis is a species of zoophilic mosquito belonging to the genus Uranotaenia. It is found in Thailand, Sri Lanka, Japan, Australia, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, New Guinea, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Solomon Islands, Thailand, Timor, and Vietnam. They are known to live in crab holes, prefer to live around banks of water pools and are known to feed on mudskippers.
Uranotaenia (Pseudoficalbia) nivipleura is a species of zoophilic mosquito belonging to the genus Uranotaenia. It is found in India, Sri Lanka, Hong Kong, Australia, China, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Nepal, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam.
Uranotaenia lowii is a species of mosquito in the family Culicidae.
Deinocerites cancer, the crabhole mosquito, is a species of mosquito in the family Culicidae.
Rampa Rattanarithikul is a Thai entomologist and taxonomist. She is a leading expert on mosquitoes, having discovered 24 new species and identifying at least 420 during her career. She was the lead author of the six-volume Illustrated Keys to the Mosquitoes of Thailand. The mosquito species Anopheles rampae and Uranotaenia rampae are named for her.
