One of the most common and frightening stories in childhood was a horror story in which the main character was a malaria mosquito. According to this horror story, it was huge in size and bit painfully. Meeting him did not bode well. There was only one consolation - all the children knew that such monsters were found only in Africa and only bit the inhabitants there. They did not reach Russia, so there was nothing particularly to be afraid of. However, as we grew older, we learned that this insect thrives in the vast expanses of our homeland. Today we want to tell you in detail about this most dangerous representative of the mosquito genus, and at the same time we will answer the most important question - whether the malaria mosquito is dangerous for humans or not.
Let's not delay the answer - yes, it is very dangerous.
But in about 9 cases out of 10, you will not encounter this insect, but a very similar centipede. Do you want to know how to understand whether you are looking at a malaria mosquito or its double? We'll be happy to tell you. But first, let's talk about what kind of creature this is, how it reproduces, lives and what it loves. Does a lamp help against mosquitoes?
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In Latin, the name of the malaria mosquito sounds like Anopheles (anopheles) and is translated very offensively: harmful, useless, worthless. It is not surprising that these insects are angry with the whole world. These mosquitoes are capable of carrying about 10 types of malarial plasmodia, so the main danger that the bite of this insect promises is the likelihood of contracting malaria.
Malaria. Is she really that scary?
But what’s so scary about this very malaria? Just think, it will just itch a little and that’s all. Unfortunately, it's not that simple. Malaria or swamp fever is an infectious disease. It is very severe and is accompanied by chills, fever, changes in the size of the liver and spleen, as well as anemia. This disease is indeed most common in Africa and affects mainly children under 5 years of age.
Of the 500 million people who contracted malaria at the beginning of the 21st century, approximately 3 million died. The current vaccine shows effectiveness in the range of 31-56%. We especially note that the disease is very insidious and can return again and again even after complete recovery.
Interesting! It is malaria that is considered the main cause of the fall of the Roman Empire in the 5th century. True, not all at once, but only the Western Empire. Until recently, this was just a beautiful hypothesis. But not so long ago, scientists examined the remains of 58 people who lived at that time. In two samples, DNA fragments were found that clearly indicate that these Romans suffered from malaria and probably died from it. Moreover, we are talking about the most severe form of the disease, which is caused by Plasmodium falciparum.
Do you know what is the most offensive? The ancient Romans paid for their thirst for progress in this way. Outbreaks of the disease were directly related to the fact that in order to build new roads, they tried to drain the swamps. Apparently the mosquitoes didn't like it much.
Appearance of a malaria mosquito
We have prepared a short description of the Anopheles mosquito. Adults in the imago stage have a small head equipped with a proboscis, an elongated body and, most often, long legs. By the way, these are the legs that help you understand who is in front of you: an ordinary squeaker or a formidable anopheles. The average size of an insect is approximately 8-10 mm.
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In addition to the length of the legs, malaria mosquitoes differ from their ordinary counterparts in the length of the antennae located on the head. It is approximately equal to the length of its “sting,” while its brethren have much shorter antennae.
In addition to the antennae, the most important organ of the mosquito is located on the head - its mouth. It consists of a thin tube and two pairs of jaws. In a split second, the insect bites through the outer skin and begins to suck out the blood. It is noteworthy that only females have the ability to bite through the skin. Males do not have this ability. The explanation for this is very simple and it lies in what the malaria mosquito feeds on. Only females drink blood, but males feed exclusively on plant sap and pollen.
Another significant difference, from the point of view of scientists (but completely useless from the point of view of ordinary people), is that in Anopheles larvae the respiratory system is designed in such a way that it actually lacks a chitinous siphon.
In fact, this information is not so useless. Firstly, the absence of a breathing tube forces the larvae of the malaria mosquito to position itself strictly perpendicular to the surface of the water. And the larvae of the common mosquito are located, as a rule, at an angle. Thus, you can understand how quickly you need to destroy the mosquito farm.
Secondly, the hole through which Anopheles larvae breathe is closed by five blades, which open during breathing and close securely when the larva goes under water. The peculiarity of these blades is that they are not wetted by water, but are perfectly wetted by various lauricides, for example, kerosene. As a result, the larva's airways become clogged, causing its death.
Interesting! Like ordinary squeaks, Anopheles uses infrared radiation to detect prey. Therefore, they easily detect their prey in complete darkness. And as soon as they discover her, they fly to her. By the way, do you know how far such a hunter can cover? More than 50 kilometers, and its speed is approximately 3 km/h.
Symptoms of bites
Among all the symptoms of malaria mosquito bites, fever is distinguished. It occurs even if a small number of parasites enter the human body. Medical scientists distinguish four forms of malaria:
- Three days. This disease lasts for 1–3 years. In this case, the symptoms periodically recur and intensify. Therefore, it is necessary to find out in advance what if you are bitten by a malaria mosquito and what will happen if you do not act.
- Oval. Its duration reaches 3 weeks. But there have been cases where malaria developed within 3 years. The main attacks occur in the evening.
- Four days. In this case, attacks occur every 2 days.
- Tropical. The duration of the disease is 6–12 months. To understand whether this type of disease is dangerous, you need to study the statistics. After all, city residents also encountered it.
Each form has its own characteristics. There are three periods of the disease:
- Latent. The disease manifests itself most acutely. A person has a headache, fever and chills. There are also more serious manifestations.
- Second. The main symptoms include elevated body temperature, cramps and rapid pulse. Gradually the temperature decreases, and sweat is released more abundantly. Convulsions provoke disruptions in the functioning of all organs. The number of such attacks can reach 10–15 times. After this, the symptoms become less obvious.
- Relapse.
Since the disease takes such a long period, specialists can identify it. They know what the bite of a malarial and blood-sucking mosquito looks like. This information is also available online. Images and photographs are available online and in specialized literature. If you are bitten by blood-sucking pests and develop a fever, then you need the help of specialists. And every person needs to know what to do if bitten by a malaria mosquito.
How to understand who is in front of you
Now that we've talked in detail about what a malaria mosquito looks like, it's time to talk about how to understand which mosquito species you're encountering. Here are a few signs that are more or less likely to help you become one of the best entomologists in the country:
- The hind legs of the malaria mosquito are significantly longer than the front legs. And in ordinary mosquitoes, all legs are the same length.
- An ordinary mosquito, sitting on a surface, places its body parallel to it. And the malarial one is at an angle. Its rear end is noticeably higher than its head.
- Every bite is a holiday for anopheles. Therefore, before attacking the victim, it seems to dance in the air.
- Wings of a malaria mosquito with a pattern. Most often these are dark brown spots.
In principle, these three signs are enough to understand what you are faced with.
Where does Anopheles live?
Now let's talk about where the malaria mosquito lives. And it lives almost everywhere where it is at least a little warm and there is moisture. The exception is Antarctica, the Far North and desert areas. At the same time, there are approximately 440 species of them in the world.
A reasonable question arises: are there malaria mosquitoes in Russia? About 10 species are common in Russia and neighboring countries. The main habitat is the central part of Russia. About 5 species are found here. The climatic features of our country are such that the likelihood of a malaria outbreak is negligible, but this does not eliminate the danger, since the malaria mosquito carries not only the disease of the same name, but also a number of others.
Related articles: What diseases do mosquitoes carry?
Interesting! It is in Russia, in the remote taiga, that the most tenacious species of Anopheles lives. Apart from him, very few people live there. Can you imagine how bored he is there in the evenings?
Fortunately, the most persistent ones live with us. But the most dangerous ones live in far, far away Africa. Heat is not a problem for them if there is moisture. And there are a lot of swamps there. It is in them that females lay eggs, from which adult individuals emerge.
As soon as mosquitoes “take wing”, they fly across the continent in search of prey. Let us remind you that an adult mosquito is capable of covering a distance of more than 50 kilometers. This explains the fact that approximately 90% of all malaria cases in the world occur in African populations.
Tropical malaria is considered the most terrible form of this disease. If a person gets it, they have about a one in a thousand chance of surviving. The vaccine, as we have already written, exists, but it is not particularly effective and not all Africans have the opportunity to get vaccinated.
Like classic mosquitoes, malaria mosquitoes can carry the following common diseases:
- West Nile fever;
- dirofilariasis;
- tularemia;
- Zika fever.
Danger to life from human health
Scientists are studying the relationship between Plasmodium falciparum and a type of mosquito. To understand everything, it is necessary to study the diseases that spread. How accurately a person knows how dangerous malarial and other mosquitoes are will determine whether he or she will take the right actions.
Experts take special care to find out why malaria mosquitoes are dangerous and harmful. After all, they carry and spread not only malaria, but also other infectious diseases. Every year, people die from mosquito bites. At the same time, blood-sucking insects of the genus Anopheles carry tropical malaria, which develops quite quickly. From this it is clear why the malaria mosquito is dangerous.
Anopheles is also dangerous for humans because it transmits encephalitis and tropical fever through its proboscis. Sometimes an insect bite causes a disease associated with the penetration of threadworms into the human body. A person who is bitten may experience problems such as blocked blood vessels or lymph congestion. Those limbs into which the worms have entered rapidly increase in size. It is difficult to cope with such an infectious disease. To do this, you need to identify the virus or microbe that causes the infection.
What's for lunch today
We are used to the fact that only female mosquitoes drink blood, but the males are white and fluffy. In the sense that they do not hunt for our blood, but feed exclusively on the gifts of nature. The situation is exactly the same with malaria mosquitoes. Except for one small feature.
Anopheles females feed on blood only until fertilization occurs. As soon as this happens, they abandon the animal diet and begin, like her husband, to eat plant foods.
How does infection occur?
Let's go back to a time when the female is young, beautiful and full of hope. It is during this period of her life that she poses the greatest danger.
Interesting! We completely forgot to talk about how long the malaria mosquito lives. And this is very important. So, its maximum lifespan is approximately 1-1.5 months. But in reality, few mosquitoes in Russia live to such a ripe old age. Most often they live for one or two weeks.
But why is mosquito lifespan important? Plasmodium, which lives in the bodies of females infected by them, is unable to survive the winter. They die. Therefore, the new mosquitoes that begin to appear in the spring do not carry malaria. In order to start spreading it again, they need to become infected with it.
To do this, they need to find an animal or person whose body contains a source of infection. Then you need to drink his blood and wait a little. One, or better yet, two weeks. This is exactly how long it takes for plasmoids to settle in the body of a new host and begin to reproduce there.
This is where the lifespan of anopheles becomes a deciding factor. Plasmoids simply do not have time to develop sufficiently, since their carrier dies. This fact is related to the fact that there are almost no outbreaks of malaria in Russia. It seems to exist, but noble mosquitoes take it with them to the grave, preventing it from spreading.
Malaria vector control
The number of anti-malarial mosquito products produced by various companies is enormous. Therefore, it is difficult for ordinary citizens to choose a drug or device that is effective and easy to use. To simplify the selection process, certain information is used.
Toxic substances
- Solfisan. Manufacturers do not use harmful components or toxins during preparation. The products are distributed through sprayers. Consumers also use a siphon.
- Digital. The chemical composition is used to treat ponds, residential and commercial properties. Active substances affect adults and larvae.
Traps
- Ultraviolet trap. It produces ultraviolet radiation, which affects the nervous system. The duration of continuous work is 25–30 days. Insects cannot live in a house with ultraviolet traps.
- Gas traps. They produce a gas that causes paralysis and kills pests. The gas does not affect the condition of pets or people.
Fumigators
Such devices produce toxic components that affect the condition of insects. You should only purchase units made by trusted manufacturers. Defective and low-quality fumigators can cause harm to humans or pets. Among the manufactured devices are Raptor and Mosquitoll, which are distinguished by their effectiveness.
Preventive actions
The main prevention and prevention measures include:
- Doors and window openings are covered with mosquito nets.
- In nature or in the local area, special spirals are used that repel pests.
- Exposed skin areas are treated with sprays, ointments and gels. When selecting these substances, the compositions are taken into account. Before use, check and consult with allergists.
- If a person is in an area where such pests are found, he should wear thick clothing.
Even if you are in areas where blood-sucking pests of the Anopheles genus live, you can avoid infection. To do this, simple rules of behavior are taken into account.
