📚
MOSQUITO
▢ General Characters:
❖ Distribution: Cosmopolitan
❖ Habit: Nocturnal
❖ Body Division: Head, thorax and abdomen
❖ Disease Transmission: Only female mosquito transmits diseases
❖ Common Genera:
Table 1: Important Mosquito Genera
Genus | Important Diseases |
|---|---|
Anopheles | Malaria |
Culex | Filariasis, Japanese encephalitis |
Aedes | Dengue fever, yellow fever, Zika |
▢ Head:
❖ Head Bears:
- •One pair compound eyes
- •One pair antennae
- •Mouth parts
❖ Antennae:
Table 1: Male vs Female Antenna
Sex | Antenna Type | Feature |
|---|---|---|
Male | Plumose | Long with many bristles |
Female | Pilose | Short with few bristles |
❖ Johnston's Organ: Present in pedicel of antenna; sensitive to sound vibration and CO2
▢ Mouth Parts:
Table 1: Male vs Female Mouth Parts
Sex | Mouth Part Type | Feeding Habit | Important Feature |
|---|---|---|---|
Male | Sucking type | Nectar / plant juice | Mandibles absent |
Female | Piercing and sucking type | Blood of vertebrates | Maxilla and mandibles present |
❖ Piercing Element: Maxilla + mandible
❖ Important Point: Female mosquito sucks blood; male mosquito sucks plant juice only
▢ Reproductive Characters:
Table 1: Sexual Differences
Sex | Important Structure |
|---|---|
Male | 9th abdominal segment bears claspers |
Male | 10th segment modified into copulatory / insemination organ |
Female | 10th abdominal segment bears pair of anal cerci |
❖ Copulation: Occurs during flight at night
▢ Life Cycle:
❖ Type: Complete metamorphosis
❖ Sequence: Egg → Larva → Pupa → Imago / Adult
❖ Larva: Called wriggler
❖ Pupa: Called tumbler
❖ Young Adult: Called imago
❖ Larval Moulting: Larva undergoes 4 moults and forms 5 instars
❖ Sexual Maturity: Imago becomes sexually mature within about 7 days of hatching
❖ Life Cycle Duration: Completes within about 1 month
▢ Mosquito Control:
❖ Oil Spraying: Oil on stagnant water blocks respiratory siphon of larvae, so larvae cannot breathe and die
❖ Biological Control: Gambusia fish feeds on mosquito larvae and is used for biological control
▢ Difference Between Culex and Anopheles:
Table 1: Culex vs Anopheles
Feature | Culex | Anopheles |
|---|---|---|
Egg shape | Cigar shaped | Boat shaped |
Egg arrangement | Laid vertically in clusters | Laid horizontally and singly |
Air float in egg | Absent | Lateral air float present |
Egg number | Usually 200–400 eggs | Usually 40–100 eggs |
Water type | Dirty water | Fresh and clean water |
Larval feeding | Bottom feeder | Surface feeder |
Larval position | Head hangs downward at angle with water surface | Head lies parallel to water surface |
Respiratory siphon | Long conical siphon present | Absent or very reduced |
Pupa colour | Colourless | Green |
Adult sitting posture | Body parallel to surface | Body at acute angle to surface |
Wings | Uniformly coloured | Dark-spotted wings |
Disease transmitted | Filariasis | Malaria |
▢ High-Yield Points:
Table 1: Must Remember
Question Clue | Answer |
|---|---|
Only disease-transmitting mosquito | Female mosquito |
Malaria vector | Anopheles |
Filariasis vector | Culex |
Dengue vector | Aedes |
Male antenna | Plumose |
Female antenna | Pilose |
Mosquito larva | Wriggler |
Mosquito pupa | Tumbler |
Young adult | Imago |
Metamorphosis | Complete |
Biological control | Gambusia fish |
Anopheles wing | Dark-spotted |
Culex wing | Uniformly coloured |
Q1.
Mosquitoes are generally
Q2.
The body of mosquito is divided into
Q3.
Which mosquito transmits malaria?
Q4.
Culex mosquito commonly transmits
Q5.
Aedes mosquito transmits
📅IOM 2010
Q6.
Diseases are transmitted in mosquitoes mainly by
Q7.
A mosquito head bears
Q8.
Male mosquito antenna is
Q9.
Female mosquito antenna is
Q10.
Johnston's organ in mosquito is present in
📅BPKIHS
Q11.
Male mosquito feeds mainly on
Q12.
Female mosquito has which type of mouth parts?
📅IOM 1994
Q13.
The piercing elements of female mosquito are
Q14.
Mandibles are absent in
Q15.
In male mosquito, claspers are present on
Q16.
The larva of mosquito is called
📅IOM 1999
Q17.
The pupa of mosquito is called
📅IOM 1999
Q18.
Young adult mosquito is called
Q19.
Mosquito shows
Q20.
Correct life cycle sequence of mosquito is
Q21.
Mosquito larva undergoes how many moults?
Q22.
Spraying oil on stagnant water kills mosquito larvae mainly by blocking
Q23.
Gambusia fish is used in mosquito control because it
Q24.
Eggs of Culex are generally
Q25.
Eggs of Anopheles are generally
Q26.
Lateral air floats are present in eggs of
Q27.
Culex usually lays eggs in
Q28.
Anopheles usually lays eggs in
Q29.
Larva of Culex is mainly a
Q30.
Larva of Anopheles is mainly a
Q31.
Respiratory siphon in Culex larva is
Q32.
Respiratory siphon in Anopheles larva is
Q33.
Adult Anopheles while sitting keeps its body
Q34.
Adult Culex while sitting keeps its body
Q35.
Wings of Anopheles are usually
Q36.
Wings of Culex are usually