Mosquito bites transmit the malaria parasite
You may not believe that the deadliest animal in the world is actually a mosquito. According to the World Health Organization: Mosquito bites kill more than 1 million people every year!
Why can such a tiny bug kill so many people?
In fact, it is not the mosquito that dies, but the parasite carried by the mosquito - the malaria parasite. Mosquito bites can spread the parasite into healthy people, causing malaria as a disease.
Female Anopheles mosquitoes are sucking blood
There are about 3,500 species of mosquitoes worldwide, divided into 41 genera. Human malaria is transmitted only by females of the genus Anopheles mosquitoes. Of the approximately 430 Anopheles species, only 30 to 40 transmit malaria in nature. The rest either do not bite or cannot sustain the growth of malaria parasites.
Mosquito head diagram
Adult female Anopheles mosquitoes lay 50 to 200 eggs on the surface of the water at a time, and when the temperature is right, it only takes 2 to 3 days for the eggs to hatch into larvae. The larvae spend most of their time floating on the surface of the water and feed on algae, bacteria and other microorganisms. Only when disturbed will the larvae dive into the water. The larvae undergo pupae and adult changes in the water, and after about 10 days, a blood-sucking mosquito flies out of the water.
Mosquito eggs floating on the surface of the water
Adult Anopheles mosquitoes are divided into three parts: head, chest and abdomen.
The head is specifically used to obtain sensory information and eat. The head contains eyes and antennae for detecting host odor and searching for water, as well as a slender, forward-protruding long mouth for sucking!
Under the developed muscles of the chest there are three pairs of long legs and a pair of wings, dedicated to sports.
The abdomen is specifically used for food digestion and egg development.
Mosquito structure diagram
Males feed on nectar and other sugar sources and can survive for about a week. Females can survive for up to a month, and they usually feed on sugar sources, but usually need blood to develop the eggs, and after drinking enough blood, the females will rest for a few days while digesting the blood and developing the eggs. This process depends on temperature and usually takes 2-3 days in tropical conditions. Once the eggs are fully developed, the female lays them and then looks for blood again to develop another batch of eggs, circulating them back and forth until death.
Mosquitoes are sucking blood
Mosquitoes not only transmit malaria, but also vectors of various diseases, such as: Japanese encephalitis epidemic, dengue fever, yellow fever, kala-azar, filariasis and so on. Therefore, mosquitoes have a great threat to human health, usually pay attention to mosquito prevention and mosquito control, when going to the suburbs or the wild, we must do a good job of mosquito prevention in advance, once there is a serious allergic reaction, you need to seek medical treatment in time.