DIFFERENTIATE CULEX, ANOPHELES AND AEDES MOSQUITOES

                                         DIFFERENTIATE CULEX, ANOPHELES AND AEDES MOSQUITOES

          DISTINGUISH BETWEEN FRIEND AND FOE MOSQUITOES

PROF WAQAR HUSSAIN 

                                MOSQUITO, LITERAL MEANING LITTLE FLIES, IS ONE OF THE OLDEST SPECIE OF GNAT, EXITING SINCE 150 MILLION YEARS. AT PRESENT, THERE ARE 100 TRILLION MOSQUITOES WITH AT LEAST 3500 SPECIES IN THE WORLD. MOSQUITOES INFECT 700 MILLION PEOPLE ANNUALLY WITH FATALITY TO THE TUNE OF 3 MILLIONS. THIS HARMFUL CREATURES POSES GREATEST THREAT TO MANKIND. IN ORDER TO WIPE OFF OR LESSEN THEIR POPULATION, ONE MUST DIFFERENTIATE BETWEEN FRIEND AND FOE GENERA OF MOSQUITOES.THIS CATEGORIZATION WILL HELP TO ERADICATE COMPARATIVELY FEWER NUMBERS OF PERNICIOUS MOSQUITOES SUCCESSFULLY. SO DON’T WASTE TIME, MONEY, ENERGY AND KILLING DEVICES LAVISHLY IN HUNT OF ALL MOSQUITOES INSTEAD SINGLE OUT THE DANGEROUS ONES AND KILL THEM EFFECTIVELY.
                     OF ALL THE 3500 SPECIES, THE THREE MOST SIGNIFICANT GENERA ARE THE CULEX, ANOPHELES AND AEDES, RESPONSIBLE FOR TRANSMITTING DIFFERENT DEADLY DANGEROUS DISEASES TO HOMO SAPIENS.ONLY SLIGHT ATTENTION IS REQUIRED TO DISTINGUISH THE THREE.

                                  CULEX, LITERAL MEANING GNAT, IS A GENUS OF MOSQUITO COMPRISING OF 88 SPECIES AND SERVE AS VECTOR FOR DISEASES; WEST NILE VIRUS, FILARIASIS, JAPANESE ENCEPHALITIS, ST. LOUISE ENCEPHALITIS AND AVIAN MALARIA. CULEX MOSQUITOES ARE IN ABUNDANCE. THEY ARE MOSTLY BROWN OR GREY WITH STOUT BODY, UNSPOTTED WINGS AND BODY AND ITS SITTING POSTURE IS PARALLEL TO THE SURFACE. CULEX IS CONSIDERED TO BE THE LEAST DANGEROUS OF THE THREE TYPES OF MOSQUITOES DUE TO THE FACT THAT HUMAN BLOOD IS NOT THEIR PREFERRED MEAL. INSTEAD, MOST SPECIES OF CULEX BITE BIRD RATHER THAN HUMAN.

                               ANOPHELES, LITERAL MEANING USELESS, COMPRISES OF 460 SPECIES AND SERVE AS VECTOR FOR DISEASES; MALARIA, CANNINE HEARTWORM, DIROFILARIA IMMITIS, THE FILARIASIS CAUSING WUCHERERIA BANCROFTI, BURGI MALAYI AND O'NYONG'NYOUNG FEVER. ANOPHELES MOSQUITO CAN BE DISTINGUISHED BY THE PALPS WHICH ARE AS LONG AS THE PROBOSCIS AND BY THE PRESENCE OF DISCRETE BLACK AND WHITE SCALES ON THE WINGS. ANOPHELES CAN EASILY BE IDENTIFIED BY THE TYPICAL RESTING POSITION, ABDOMEN STICKING UP IN THE AIR, MAKING AN ANGLE OF 45^O DEGREE WITH THE SURFACE. MALES FORM LARGE SWARMS USUALLY AROUND DUSK AND FEMALE FLY INTO THE HORDES TO MATE.

                                      AEDES, LITERAL MEANING UNPLEASANT, CONSISTS OF 700 SPECIES AND SERVE AS VECTOR FOR MANY DISEASES; DENGUE, YELLOW FEVER, CHIKUNGUNYA AND LYMPHATIC FILARIASIS AN ILLNESS THAT CAN TRIGGER ELEPHANTIASIS IN CERTAIN CASES. MOSQUITOES OF THIS GENUS ARE TYPICAL SMALL AND HAVE BLACK AND WHITE STRIPE MARKING ON THEIR BODY AND LEGS. AEDES HAS A WHITE "LYRE" ON HER THORAX WITH TWO YELLOW "CHORDS" IN THE CENTER. AEDES RESTS WITH ABDOMEN PARALLEL TO THE SURFACE MAKING A SLIGHT HUMP. AEDES FORM CONCOURSE NEVER EXCEEDING SIX IN NUMBER. IT MEANS IF YOU SEE A SWARM, BE SURE, THESE MOSQUITOES ARE NOT AEDES. ON IDENTIFICATION OF OBNOXIOUS MOSQUITOES, IT IS EASIER TO OBLITERATE THEM SUCCESSFULLY.
                  AS WE ALL KNOW THAT ONLY FEMALE MOSQUITO BITE HUMANS FOR PROTEIN AND IRON; REQUIRED FOR EGG DEVELOPMENT. MALE MOSQUITO ONLY FEED ON PLANT SAP, DEW AND NECTAR. TO FURTHER REDUCE THE NUMBER OF MENACING MOSQUITOES, IT IS IMPERATIVE TO DISTINGUISH BETWEEN MALE AND FEMALE MOSQUITOES BY NOTING BELOW MENTIONED TIPS. FIRST, IF TWO MOSQUITOES HAVE SAME COLOUR, RESTING POSTURE AND DESIGN; THE SLIGHTLY LARGER ONE IS FEMALE.

SECOND, FEMALE MOSQUITO HAS LONGER PROBOSCIS(PIERCING ORGAN) THAN MALE; THIRD, MALE MOSQUITO HAS MORE BUSHY ANTENNA; FOURTH, MALE HAS PALPS AS LONG AS PROBOSCIS OR EVEN LONGER AND CURVED UPWARD, APPEARING IN SHAPE OF GREEK LETTER PSI WITH EXCEPTION OF FEMALE ANOPHELES WHICH HAS PALPS EQUAL TO ITS PROBOSCIS; FIFTH, MALE MOSQUITO'S BUZZ OR FLIGHT TONE IS ABOUT 600 Hz WHEREAS FEMALE’S TONE IS ABOUT 400 Hz. SO, LOW PITCHED WHINNY BUZZ INDICATES FEMALE MOSQUITO.

                     BY APPLYING VISUAL AND AUDITORY SENSES, IT IS POSSIBLE TO DISTINGUISH   BETWEEN DANGEROUS ANOPHELES AND AEDES FROM ALMOST INNOCUOUS CULEX AND ALSO BETWEEN INNOXIOUS MALE AND NOXIOUS FEMALE .THIS "SELECTIVE PERSPECTIVE" APPROACH WILL LESSEN THE NUMBER OF TARGETED ENEMIES ENABLING US TO COPE EFFECTIVELY WITH THIS TINY FIERCE CREATURE. ON THE RECENT ONSLAUGHT OF DENGUE,

WE ARE LEFT WITH HOBSON'S CHOICE;"KILL MOSQUITO TO KILL DENGUE". KEEP IN MIND!" IF YOU ALLOWED MOSQUITO TO BREED; YOU WILL BLEED". A NOD IS ENOUGH FOR THE WISE!