This insect, at the sight of zoologists, is even quite cute. It has an elongated body, long legs and sensitive tendrils-antennas, belongs to the order of Diptera. Simply "sympathetic", and it is called a malarial mosquito. How dangerous is his bite? We will discuss this further.
Another name for this insect is Anopheles. It is widespread, but the most dangerous species live in the southern regions. They carry not only malaria, but also yellow fever, Japanese encephalitis, Dengue fever.
Are the common and malarial mosquito similar? What is the last danger? Both species are bloodsucking, but only the females drink blood, and the males are quite harmless. Slightly different appearance. Anopheles on the wings have dark spots and when the abdomen is planted, the top is lifted. The eggs of the female are deposited in stagnant waters, most often in wetlands. There the larvae live, breathe through peculiar tubules, feed, pass water through themselves and decant small particles. When it is time to hatch, the pupa rises to the surface and an adult insect flies out of it.
What is dangerous malarial mosquito? Bites for animals and humans are quite painful, cause itching, redness and allergies. This is the case if the mosquito is not infected. If it is infected, the consequences can be very deplorable, since malaria Refers to diseases that have high mortality statistics. It is caused by microorganisms called "plasmodia". The bite of the malarial mosquito contributes to the fact that the causative agent of the disease enters the bloodstream. But plasmodia does not just use Anopheles as a transport, they are an incubator for them. Therefore, the fight against malarial mosquitoes in many countries was conducted and conducted at the state level.
Initially, they could not determine the role of the malarial mosquito, which is dangerous for people. It was believed that the disease is caused by poisonous swamp fumes. And only at the end of the XIX century the French doctor Charles Laveran suggested that the causative agent of infection can be a simple microorganism. Parasitologist Patrick Manson thought about the fact that this "body" needs to somehow move from person to person. Ronald Ross found them in Anopheles. So, by universal efforts by the 20th century, it was decided what is a malarial mosquito, what is dangerous for a person.
But it was not enough to reveal, it was necessary to develop a strategy of struggle. The most effective was draining wetlands. So did in the mouth of the Rhine. Now very few people will remember that there was a breeding ground for a dangerous infection. So they did in the forests of Abkhazia, where they planted eucalyptus, which pumped water from the marshes, into the remaining ones they started small fishes of the mosquito, they are natural enemies of mosquitoes and feed on their larvae. But there are still enough places on the Earth, completely undeveloped, where malaria thrives. This primarily concerns the central regions of Africa and South America, where the most dangerous foci are now. All tourists should remember that there are no vaccinations against this disease, but you can be saved if you just start taking quinine on time.