Anopheles crucians

Anopheles crucians is a mosquito that exists in aquatic environments under areas with little light presence. The preferred environment for A. crucians is areas with acidic water such as that found in cypress swamps.[1] The mosquito breeds in semipermanent and permanent pools, ponds, lakes and swamps.

Anopheles crucians
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Arthropoda
Class:
Insecta
Order:
Diptera
Family:
Culicidae
Subfamily:
Anophelinae
Genus:
Anopheles
Species:
A. crucians
Binomial name
Anopheles crucians

It may be a vector for malaria.

Anatomy

The anatomy of A. Crucians is very similar to that of Anopheles Bradleyi. The proboscis is dark colored and black like that of other mosquitoes.[1] The pedipalps, composed of six segments, are different colors based on the segment. The basal part is black with raised scales, segment 3 has white scales, the 4th segment has white-ringed basally and apically, and the last segment is white.[1]

A. Crucians abdomen ranges from dark brown to black with hundreds of yellow to dark-brown hairs. The legs are dark with white patched in the femora and tibiae. Their wings, on average, are 4.0 millimeters in length and will have white-yellow scales with contrasting spots.[1]

Susceptibility to vector of malaria

In research conducted by W.V. King in 1916, it was discovered that Anopheles female mosquitoes are carriers of Malaria. In A. Crucians, oocyst, the zygote stage of the life cycle, or sporozoites, a stage in the life cycle for the malaria organism, can be found in the species (in some individuals, both can be found).[2] Approximately, 75% of A. Crucians will have plasmodium falciparum, the parasite that will cause malaria in humans when bitten by a carrier.[2]

References
  1. Carpenter, Stanley J.; LaCasse, Walter J. (1974). Mosquitoes of North America (North of Mexico). University of California Press. ISBN 0520026381.
  2. King, W.V (1916). "Experiments on the development of malaria parasites in three American species of Anopheles". Journal of Experimental Medicine. 23 (6): 703–716. doi:10.1084/jem.23.6.703. PMC 2125450. PMID 19868018.
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