General Information
Fossil mosquitoes are about 50 million years old, which is much time to adapt to the later developing human. All human populations are affected by mosquitoes, mainly by bites but also by the transmission of diseases. About 3500 mosquitoes belong to the family Culicidae, the most important genera ?Anopheles and ?Culex, ?Mansonia and ?Aedes belonging to the subfamilies Anophelinae and Culicinae, respectively. Mosquitoes were the first insects in which a causative agent of a disease, ?Bancroftian filariasis, was observed (1877). Meanwhile they are known as vectors of many diseases, e.g. viral and bacterial diseases,
But are mostly known as vectors of malaria. Mosquitoes are holometabolous insects, larvae
And pupae live aquatically. Adults are about 5 mm long, holding their wings flat above their body. In this dipteran group, only females suck blood. The adults can be distinguished from non-blood-sucking Nematocera, e.g. chironomids, by scales on the wing veins and especially by the long, forwardly directed proboscis.
No comments:
Post a Comment