Anopheles Mosquito

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Science

Anopheles Mosquito

J.J. Hubbard

                                                 Kingdom: Animalia

                                                 Phylum: Arthropoda

                                                 Class: Insecta

                                                 Order: Diptera

                                                  Superfamily: Cudicoidea

                                                  Family: Culicidae

                                                  Subfamily: Anophelinae

                                                  Genus: Anopheles

                                                  Species: Stephensi

            Like all mosquitoes the anopheles mosquito goes through four stages egg, larva, pupa, and imago the first three stages are spent in the water and last from 1 to 2 weeks. The particular species of mosquito can lay up to 200 eggs every time they lay. Mosquitoes prefer to lay in stagnant water where there is plenty of food for the growing larva. In there early stage larvae and pupae use small brushes along their mouth to feed. As the Larvae grow they shed their exoskeleton and grow into the next stage. When they grow into the pupa stage their thorax and head get merged into one part known as a cephalothorax. While in this stage, just like the larva, they must frequently come up to the surface to get air then dive back down. In just a few days they will split apart and grow into the adult mosquito. In this stage the adult now uses a proboscis to feed, have grown their wings, use antennae to feel and smell, and now feeds off of blood.   Although they may seem weak and harmless, mosquitoes are the number one killers of all the insects. They kill more people due to wide spread disease then all the other insects in the world combined. Millions of people die every year due to malaria, West Nile Virus and many more viruses the anopheles mosquito spreads. You really don’t want to run into one of these in a dark alley.