Mosquitoes - Characteristics, Life Cycle, Malaria And Yellow Fever
species flies diseases process
Mosquitoes belong to an order of insects called Diptera, which includes the common house fly. All together, the Diptera order, the flies, are responsible for carrying diseases to more than 50% of the world's population. Some 120,000 species of Dipteran flies have been catalogued, which includes more than 2,500 species of mosquitoes. More than 15,000 species of flies and 150 species of mosquitoes are found in North America.
Some species of mosquitos in the genera Anopheles, Aedes, and Culex are responsible for infecting human beings with diseases such as malaria, filariasis, and yellow fever. While pest flies carry diseases to humans and animals and cause a considerable loss to agricultural crops, their larvae also serve an important function in the process of decomposing dead plant and animal material, a role they share with many bacteria and fungi. Mosquito populations are a part of this process.
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Mosquitoes have two pairs of wings, but their second pair of wings are reduced to short, peg-like structures called halteres. Mosquitoes have thin, long bodies and three pairs of extremely long legs. They have scales along the veins of their wings and long beak-like, sharp sucking mouth parts called a proboscis. These two features distinguish mosquitoes from other flies. Mosquitoes also have feath…
Mosquitoes have four stages in their life cycle beginning with the egg, then proceeding into a larva stage, followed by a pupa stage, and finally adulthood. Female mosquitoes deposit their eggs in a number of different environments depending on the particular species. While the larvae can only live in water, eggs are not always laid in water. Some species deposit their eggs in areas that may not b…
Through her blood sucking, the female mosquito carries diseases like malaria and yellow fever to human beings. While it has been wiped out in some parts of the world, malaria is a disease that is still contracted in many places of the world. The illness is characterized by periodic fever and chills in the victim. Malaria is caused by a protozoa that was first identified by English physician Ronald…
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