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see mosquitomosquito
, small, long-legged insect of the order Diptera, the true flies. The females of most species have piercing and sucking mouth parts and apparently they must feed at least once upon mammalian blood before their eggs can develop properly.
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a genus of the family Culicidae; members are commonly called malaria mosquitoes because they are carriers of Plasmodium parasites, the causative agents of malaria in man. Only the females suck blood, feeding mainly on domestic animals and man. A resting anopheline mosquito, in contrast to nonmalarial ones, sits with its abdomen tilted upward and its head and proboscis, thorax, and abdomen forming a straight line.

Malaria mosquitoes develop in water. The eggs, which have floats, are deposited on the water one at a time. The larva has no respiratory tube (siphon) and rests horizontally on the sur-face. At the last molting the larva is transformed into a pupa.

More than 300 species are known, distributed on all the continents, as far north as approximately 65°-66° N lat. There are nine species in the USSR, including the common malaria mosquito (Anopheles maculipennis) and A. superpictus, once the principal carriers of the causative agent of malaria. The common malaria mosquito has four dark spots on the inner parts of its wings. It is distributed widely, as far north as the boundaries of the genus distribution and as far east as Blagoveshchensk. It breeds mainly in shallow, standing waters that are rich in aquatic vegetation. It concentrates close to populated areas and attacks humans predominantly in houses or near dwellings.

Anopheles superpictus has four or five light spots on the anterior edge of the wing. In the USSR it is distributed in Middle Asia and the Transcaucasus. It breeds mainly in small bodies of water and along streams and mountain rivers.

In order to control the malarial mosquitoes, housing for domestic animals and human dwellings are treated with insecticides. Other effective methods include draining the mosquitoes’ breeding areas and improving irrigation systems. To destroy the larvae, kerosene and petroleum are poured into bodies of water, which are also treated with insecticides. Biological control methods are also used, particularly in the Transcaucasus and southern Middle Asia, where waters are stocked with fish (for example, the mosquito fish) that eat mosquito larvae and pupae. Repellents, substances that ward off malaria mosquitoes, are used to protect humans.


Beklemishev, V. N. Ekologiia maliariinogo komara (Anopheles maculipennis Mgn.). Moscow, 1944.
Pavlovskii, E. N. Rukovodstvo po parazitologii cheloveka s ucheniem o perenoschikakh transmissivnykh boleznei, 5th ed., vol. 2. Moscow-Leningrad, 1948.
Gutsevich, A. V., A. S. Monchadskii, and A. A. Shtakel’berg. Komary (sem. Culicidae). Leningrad, 1970.



(invertebrate zoology)
A genus of mosquitoes in the family Culicidae; members are vectors of malaria, dengue, and filariasis.
References in periodicals archive ?
israelensis and Bacillus sphaericus formulations against Afrotropical anophelines in Western Kenya.
The total number of anophelines collected at Kindele was 681 and at Kimbangu was 125.
After flooding, receding water results in abundant pools (gueltas) that are ideal breeding sites for anopheline mosquitoes.
A decrease in anopheline mosquito density was seen in 2004, before any widespread IRS treatment program, but sustained low levels of mosquito density were first seen after IRS treatments (Figure 2, panel C; Table 5).
culicifacies; of 403 anophelines trapped in 2005, 81.
Collected mosquitoes were identified morphologically using the keys of Edwards (26) for culicines, and Gillies & Coetzee (27) for anophelines.
fluviatilis complex, can pick up only this species even if they occur in sympatry with other anophelines including its closely related species, An.
Further research on the interaction between type of urban agriculture and vector biology is needed because most African cities irrigate agricultural areas with water from polluted sources that is generally not favored by malaria vectors, although several studies have reported anophelines breeding in heavily contaminated water (14,15).
These were inspected for anophelines and transferred with forceps into labelled petri dishes.
The anophelines collected were identified, counted and classified according to their abdominal conditions and manually dissected for gut/gland infection and ovary dilatations.