Anopheles

Anopheles gambiae, photographed by Simon Fellous.

Belongs within: Culicidae.

Anopheles is a genus of mosquitoes, distinguishable from others by their elongate palps. Many species in the genus are significant disease vectors, most notably of the malaria causative organism Plasmodium, and of various filarial nematodes. Examples include the Anopheles gambiae complex of Africa. Females of Anopheles generally lay their eggs in permanent bodies of water; the elongate eggs are laid singly, and have membranous folds on either side that act as floats (Liehne 1991). Several subgenera have been recognised in Anopheles; members of the subgenus Anopheles have an entirely dark hind tarsus whereas the hind tarsus is partially white in A. (Nyssorhynchus) albimanus (Stone 1981). Members of the subgenus Cellia have numerous spots of white scales on the wings as opposed to the more uniformly dark-scaled Anopheles sensu stricto (Liehne 1991).

Characters (from Liehne 1991): Clypeus longer than broad, rounded anteriorly. Palps of female as long as proboscis. Scutellum evenly rounded, without distinct lobes. Abdomen usually without scales or with a few loosely applied scales. Larva with head longer than broad, rotating freely; seta 2-C close to apical margin of head; setae 5-C to 7-C pinnate and aligned in distinct row across middle of head; mentum generally long and narrow; abdomen with dorsal palmate tufts on all segments; siphon absent; pecten on posterior margin of distinct triangular chitinous plate; setae 2-X and 4-X irregularly branched.

<==Anopheles
    |--A. (Anopheles) L91
    |    |--A. (A.) atratipes Skuse 1889 L91
    |    |--A. (A.) bancroftii Giles 1902 L91
    |    |--A. (A.) chiriquiensis Komp 1936 SK56
    |    |--A. (A.) earlei Vargas 1943 S81, SK56
    |    |--A. (A.) fluminensis Root 1927 SK56
    |    |--A. (A.) maculipennis DW84 [=Culex (A.) maculipennis G20]
    |    |--A. (A.) powelli Lee 1944 L91
    |    |--A. (A.) punctipennis S81
    |    |--A. (A.) samarensis Rozeboom 1951 SK56
    |    |--A. (A.) saperoi Bohart & Ingram 1946 SK56
    |    `--A. (A.) shannoni Davis 1931 SK56
    |--A. (Cellia) L91
    |    |  i. s.: A. (C.) amharicus Coetzee, Hunt et al. 2013 CH13
    |    |         A. (C.) amictus Edwards 1921 L91
    |    |         A. (C.) annulipes Walker 1856 (see below for synonymy) L91
    |    |         A. (C.) coluzzii Coetzee, Hunt et al. 2013 CH13
    |    |         A. (C.) farauti Laveran 1902 [incl. A. moluccensis Swellengrebel & Swellengrebel de Graf 1919] L91
    |    |         A. (C.) hilli Woodhill & Lee 1944 L91 [=A. amictus hilli W91]
    |    |         A. (C.) meraukensis Venhuis 1932 L91
    |    |         A. (C.) novaguinensis Venhuis 1933 L91
    |    |         A. (C.) punctulatus L91
    |    |         A. (C.) quadriannulatus CH13
    |    |--ser. Neocellia NNK72
    |    |    |--A. (C.) maculatus NNK72
    |    |    |--A. (C.) pulcherrimus NNK72
    |    |    `--A. (C.) stephensi NNK72
    |    |--A. (C.) (ser. Neomyzomyia) tessellatus NNK72
    |    `--ser. Pyretophorus NNK72
    |         |--A. (C.) gambiae Giles 1902 NNK72, CH13 (see below for synonymy)
    |         `--A. (C.) subpictus NNK72 [incl. A. rossi A71; incl. Myzomyia rossi var. indefinita Ludlow 1904 SK56]
    |--A. (Dendropaedium) bellator Dyar & Knab 1906 [incl. A. (D.) bellator race bromelicola Dyar & Knab 1925] SK56
    |--A. (Kerteszia) SK56
    |    |--A. (K.) anoplus Komp 1937 SK56
    |    |--A. (K.) bambusicolus Komp 1937 SK56
    |    `--A. (K.) homunculus Komp 1937 SK56
    |--A. (Myzomyia) SK56
    |    |--A. (M.) clowi Rozeboom & Knight 1946 SK56
    |    |--A. (M.) cristatus King & Baisas 1936 SK56
    |    |--A. (M.) leucosphyrus [incl. A. (M.) leucosphyrus var. riparis King & Baisas 1936] SK56
    |    |--A. (M.) lungae Belkin & Schlosser 1944 SK56
    |    |--A. (M.) nataliae Belkin 1945 SK56
    |    `--A. (M.) solomonis Belkin, Knight & Rozeboom 1945 SK56
    |--A. (Nyssorhynchus) S81
    |    |--A. (N.) albimanus S81
    |    |--A. (N.) anomalophyllus Komp 1936 SK56
    |    |--A. (N.) darlingi Root 1926 SK56
    |    |--A. (N.) davisi Paterson & Shannon 1927 SK56
    |    |--A. (N.) dunhami Causey 1945 SK56
    |    |--A. (N.) emilianus Komp 1941 SK56
    |    |--A. (N.) goeldii Rozeboom & Gabaldon 1941 SK56
    |    |--A. (N.) guarani Shannon 1928 SK56
    |    |--A. (N.) sawyeri Causey, Deane et al. 1943 SK56
    |    `--A. (N.) strodei Root 1926 SK56
    `--A. (Stethomyia) SK56
         |--A. (S.) acanthotorynus Komp 1937 SK56
         `--A. (S.) niveopalpis Ludlow 1919 SK56

Anopheles incertae sedis:
  A. apicimacula Dyar & Knab 1906 SK56
  A. aquasalis C09
  A. arabiensis [incl. A. quadriannulatus davidsoni] CH13
  A. argenteolobatus CH13
  A. argyritarsis C09
  A. atroparvus BP00 [=A. maculipennis atroparvus A71]
  A. atropos Dyar & Knab 1906 SK56
  A. barberi Caquillett 1903 SK56
  A. bwambae CH13
  A. claviger KK91
  A. comorensis Brunhes, Le Goff & Geoffroy 1997 CH13
  A. crucians [incl. A. crucians var. bradleyi King 1939, A. crucians var. georgianus King 1939] SK56
  A. cruzii EN20
  A. culicifacies D51
  A. cydippis CH13
  A. dirus B08
  A. eiseni Coquillett 1902 SK56
  ‘Cellia’ flava Ludlow 1908 SK56
  ‘Myzomyia’ flavirostris Ludlow 1914 SK56
  A. fluviatilis RD77
  A. formosus Ludlow 1909 SK56
  A. funestus RD77
  A. gorgasi Dyar & Knab 1907 SK56
  A. hinesorum RK04
  ‘Culex’ hyemalis Fitch 1847 SK56
  A. koliensis Owen 1945 SK56
  A. labranchiae D51
  A. lewisi Ludlow 1920 SK56
  ‘Stethomyia lewisi’ Shannon 1931 non Anopheles lewisi Ludlow 1920 SK56
  A. lindesayi [incl. A. lindesayi var. benguetensis King 1931] SK56
  ‘Chagasia’ lineata Ludlow 1908 SK56
  A. litoralis King 1932 SK56
  A. lutzi RD77
  A. malefactor Dyar & Knab 1907 SK56
  A. melanoon BP00
  A. melas CH13
  A. merus [incl. A. gambiae litoralis Halcrow 1957 non A. litoralis King 1932, A. tangensis Kuhlow 1962] CH13
  A. messae BP00
  A. minimus RD77
    |--A. m. minimus B08
    `--A. m. varuna B08
  A. moucheti KSM06
  A. multicolor RD77
  A. neivai Howard, Dyar & Knab 1917 SK56
  A. nili KSM06
  A. nimbus [incl. A. nimbus var. kompi Edwards 1930] SK56
  A. occidentalis Dyar & Knab 1906 SK56
  A. oiketorakras Osorno-Mesa 1947 SK56
  ‘Stethomyia’ pallida Ludlow 1905 SK56
  ‘Myzomyia’ parangensis Ludlow 1914 SK56
  A. perplexens Ludlow 1907 SK56
  A. pharoensis KSM06
  A. philippinensis Ludlow 1902 SK56
  A. plumbeus KK91
  A. pseudobarbirostris Ludlow 1902 SK56
  A. pseudopunctipennis C09
  A. punctimacula Dyar & Knab 1906 SK56
  A. quadrimaculatus HF01
  A. sacharovi D51
  A. sanctielii Senevet & Abonnenc 1938 S69
  A. selengensis Ludlow 1920 SK56
  A. strigimacula Dyar & Knab 1906 SK56
  A. subalpinus D51
  A. sundaicus RD77
  ‘Myzomyia’ thorntonii Ludlow 1904 SK56
  A. torresiensis RK04
  A. vagus [incl. A. vagus var. limosus King 1932] SK56
  A. vestitipennis Dyar & Knab 1906 SK56

Anopheles (Cellia) annulipes Walker 1856 [incl. A. derricki Taylor 1943, A. mastersi Skuse 1889, A. musivus Skuse 1889, A. perplexus Taylor 1943, A. persimilis Taylor 1943] L91

Anopheles (Cellia) gambiae Giles 1902 NNK72, CH13 [incl. A. costalis Loew 1866 (n. d.) CH13, A. gracilis Dönitz 1902 CH13]

*Type species of generic name indicated

REFERENCES

[A71] Askew, R. R. 1971. Parasitic Insects. Heinemann Educational Books: London.

[BP00] Bellini, R., F. Pederzani, R. Pilani, R. Veronesi & S. Maini. 2000. Hydroglyphus pusillus (Fabricius) (Coleoptera Dytiscidae): its role as a mosquito larvae predator in rice fields. Boll. Ist. Ent. "G. Grandi" Univ. Bologna 54: 155–163.

[B08] Bortolus, A. 2008. Error cascades in the biological sciences: the unwanted consequences of using bad taxonomy in ecology. Ambio 37 (2): 114–118.

[C09] Chaverri, L. G. 2009. Culicidae (mosquitos, zancudos). In: Brown, B. V., A. Borkent, J. M. Cumming, D. M. Wood, N. E. Woodley & M. A. Zumbado (eds) Manual of Central American Diptera vol. 1 pp. 369–388. NRC Research Press: Ottawa.

[CH13] Coetzee, M., R. H. Hunt, R. Wilkerson, A. Della Torre, M. B. Coulibaly & N. J. Besansky. 2013. Anopheles coluzzii and Anopheles amharicus, new members of the Anopheles gambiae complex. Zootaxa 3619 (3): 246–274.

[DW84] Dahl, C., S. Wold, L. T. Nielsen & C. Nilsson. 1984. A SIMCA pattern recognition study in taxonomy: claw shape in mosquitoes (Culicidae, Insecta). Systematic Zoology 33 (4): 355–369.

[D51] Dobzhansky, T. 1951. Genetics and the Origin of Species 3^rd ed. Columbia University Press: New York.

[EN20] Eggli, U., & R. Nyffeler (eds) 2020. Illustrated Handbook of Succulent Plants: Monocotyledons 2^nd ed. Springer.

[G20] Goldfuss, G. A. 1820. Handbuch der Naturgeschichte vol. 3. Handbuch der Zoologie pt 1. Johann Leonhard Schrag: Nürnberg.

[HF01] Hwang, U. W., M. Friedrich, D. Tautz, C. J. Park & W. Kim. 2001. Mitochondrial protein phylogeny joins myriapods with chelicerates. Nature 413: 154–157.

[KK91] Kamarinchev, B., T. Kovacheva, T. Christova, G. Georgieva & V. Zlatanova. 1991. Studies on mosquitoes and ticks as carriers of alpha-, flavi- and bunyaviruses. In: Dusbábek, F., & V. Bukva (eds) Modern Acarology: Proceedings of the VIII International Congress of Acarology, held in České Budĕjovice, Czechoslovakia, 6–11 August 1990 vol. 2 pp. 89–92. SPB Academic Publishing: The Hague.

[KSM06] King, R. C., W. D. Stansfield & P. K. Mulligan. 2006. A Dictionary of Genetics 7^th ed. Oxford University Press.

[L91] Liehne, P. F. S. 1991. An Atlas of the Mosquitoes of Western Australia. Health Department of Western Australia.

[NNK72] Narang, N., S. Narang & J. B. Kitzmiller. 1972. Lack of gene flow among three species of anopheline mosquitoes. Systematic Zoology 21 (1): 1–6.

[RD77] Richards, O. W., & R. G. Davies. 1977. Imms' General Textbook of Entomology 10^th ed. vol. 2. Classification and Biology. Chapman and Hall: London.

[RK04] Russell, R. C., & B. H. Kay. 2004. Medical entomology: changes in the spectrum of mosquito-borne disease in Australia and other vector threats and risks, 1972–2004. Australian Journal of Entomology 43 (3): 271–282.

[S69] Steyskal, G. C. 1969. The mistreatment of the Latin genitive case in forming names of parasites. Systematic Zoology 18 (3): 339–342.

[S81] Stone, A. 1981. Culicidae. In: McAlpine, J. F., B. V. Peterson, G. E. Shewell, H. J. Teskey, J. R. Vockeroth & D. S. Wood (eds) Manual of Nearctic Diptera vol. 1 pp. 341–350. Research Branch, Agriculture Canada.

[SK56] Stone, A., & K. L. Knight. 1956. Type specimens of mosquitoes in the United States National Museum: III, the genera Anopheles and Chagasia (Diptera, Culicidae). Journal of the Washington Academy of Sciences 46 (9): 276–280.

[W91] Waterhouse, D. F. 1991. Insects and humans in Australia. In: CSIRO. The Insects of Australia: A textbook for students and research workers 2^nd ed. vol. 1 pp. 221–235. Melbourne University Press: Carlton (Victoria).

Last updated: 12 April 2022.