PHYLUM ARTHROPODA. CLASS INSECTA.

1. Class Insecta.
2. Order Anoplura.
a) Pediculus humanus capitis.
b) Pediculus humanus humanus.
c) Phthirus pubis.
3. Order Aphaniptera. Pulex irritans.
4. Order Diptera.
a) Culex mosquito.
b) Anopheles mosquito.
c) Musca domestica.
With more than 750,000 described species, the class Insecta is the most
successful group of animals on our planet in terms of diversity, number of species,
and number of individuals.
1. Insects are articulated (jointed), tracheated (having tracheal tubes for gas
exchange) hexapod (having six feet). The insect body is well protected by a tough
exoskeleton, which also helps to prevent water loss by evaporation.
2. The insect body consists of three distinct parts - head, thorax, and abdomen.
a) The head carries a pair of simple or compound eyes and a pair of slender
many jointed antennae. At the free end of the head is the mouth. The mouth is
surrounded by certain structures that are modified for feeding. They are collectively
called the mouth parts, which may be adapted for piercing, chewing, sucking, or
lapping.
The mouth parts consist of an upper lip or labrum, paired mandibles and
maxillae (first maxillae) a lower lip or labium (second maxillae) and a tongue or
hypopharynx.
Labrum is a flat structure. It overhangs the mouth. Mandibles lie immediately
beneath the labrum, one on either side of the mouth. The mandibles work from side to
side and help in biting and chewing food.
Maxillae lie posterior to the mandibles. Arising from the outer side of the stipes
is a slender 5 jointed maxillary palp. The maxillary palp is sensory in function.
Labium lies behind the mouth. Hypopharynx lies in front of the labium
between the two maxilla. The duct from the salivary glands open at its base.
b) Thorax. The head is connected to the thorax by a short neck. The thorax is
composed of three segments: prothorax, mesothorax and metathorax.
Each thoracic segment bears ventrally a pair of walking legs. A leg consists of 5
segments: coxa, trochanter, femur, tibia and tarsus. The coxa is stout and flat.
Trochanter is a small triangular piece. The femur is long and stout. It is the largest
segment in the leg. The tibia is long and slender. The tarsus is the last segment of the
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leg. It is slender and consists of 5 pieces. The last piece terminates in a pair of claws.
Between the claws is a soft adhesive pad. It is used for gripping on surfaces.
There are two pairs of wings. They arise from the mesothorax and metathorax as
lateral expansions of the cuticle. The first pair of wings is hard and opaque and is not
used in flight. They serve as protective covers for the second pair of wings and are
known as tegmina. The second pair of wings is broad and membranous and forms the
organs of flight. They are kept folded under the tegmina when not in use.
c) The abdomen has ten segments. Projecting from the side of the last segment
is a pair of many jointed processes called anal cerci. In males the 9th segment carries
ventrally a pair of anal styles. In the female the abdomen is broader than that in the
male. The anus is situated on the last segment. Ten pairs of slit-like openings called
spiracles or stigma lie on the sides of the body. The spiracles lead into a system of
branched tubes called tracheal tubes which are respiratory in function.

Fig. Insecta:
1 compound eyes, 2 simple eyes, 3 brain, 4 salivary gland, 5 crop,
6 ovary, 7 heart, 8 hindgut, 9 anus, 10 antenna, 11 upper lip, 12
mandible, 13 maxilla, 14 lower lip, 15 salivary duct, 16 ventral nerve cord, 17
coxa, 18 trochanter, 19 femur, 20 tibia, 21 tarsus, 22 Malpighian tubules,
23 midgut, 24 seminal receptacle, 25 additional glands.
3. Digestive system. The mouth leads into the buccal cavity. The hypopharynx
lies on the floor of the buccal cavity. In bloodsucking insects the muscular pharynx
acts as a suction pump.
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The esophagus dilates into a large thin walled crop in which the food is
temporarily stored. The crop leads into a muscular sac called gizzard. The part of the
alimentary canal extending from the mouth to the end of the gizzard is the foregut.
The foregut is continued as the midgut or distensible stomach. At its anterior
end are eight finger shaped tubular processes called hepatic caeca. They secrete
digestive fluids.
The midgut is followed by the hindgut. The junction of the midgut and hindgut
is marked by several fine Malpighian tubules, the excretory organs. The hindgut is
differentiated into three regions: a short and thin small intestine or ileum, a long and
coiled large intestine or colon and a short sac-like rectum. The rectum opens out by
the anus.
There are two salivary glands. They lie on either side of the crop. Each gland
consists of two lobes. Mandibles cut the food into small pieces. Masticated food is
mixed with saliva and passed into the crop.
4. Excretion is accomplished by two to many slender Malpighian tubules,
which receive metabolic wastes from the blood, concentrate the wastes, and discharge
them into the intestine.
5. The sexes are separate, and fertilization takes place internally. Several molts
occur during development. In some orders there are several developmental stages
called nymphal stages and gradual metamorphosis (change in body form) to the
adult form. In others there is a complete metamorphosis with four distinct stages in
the life cycle: egg, larva, pupa, and adult.
ORDER ANOPLURA (SUCKING LICE).
Lice are small, dorso-ventrally flattened, wingless insects that have incomplete
metamorphosis. The order includes only the sucking lice, which have mouth parts,
modified for piercing and sucking and are ectoparasites of humans.
The parasitic lice of humans include three species or varieties:
1) Pediculus humanus var. capitis (head louse),
2) Pediculus humanus var. humanus (body louse),
3) Phthirus pubis (crab louse).
PEDICULUS HUMANUS VAR.
Phylum - Arthropoda
Class - Insecta
Order - Anoplura
Genus - Pediculus
Species Pediculus humanus var. capitis
Pediculus humanus var. humanus
Diseases. Pediculosis, crabs. Vectors of epidemic typhus, trench fever and
relapsing fever.
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The body and head lice interbreed; their descendants are fertile; and their
morphologic differences overlap. The human body or head louse, P. humanus, is
found wherever personal or general hygiene is at a low level. These lice are
exclusively human parasites and have worldwide distribution. The favorite locations
are the hairs on the back of the head for the head louse, the fibers of clothing for the
body louse, and the pubic hairs for the crab louse.
The body and head lice readily pass from host to host, but the crab louse
changes its position infrequently. The body and head lice survive for a week without
food, but the crab louse dies in 2 days. Both sexes take a blood meal. They exist
between 15 and 38C but die at over 40C. Moist heat at 60C destroys the eggs in
15 to 30 minutes.
Pediculosis is most common in persons of unclean habits in cold climates where
heavy clothing is required and bathing is infrequent; in occupants of flophouses, jails,
or crowded tenements; and in soldiers, as "cooties" or "motorized dandruff," during
wartime. The head louse, which is easily transmitted by brushes, combs, and hats, is
most prevalent in schoolchildren. But it is also commonly found in the hair of elderly
and senile individuals unable to care for themselves, often presenting as a nest-like
mass of louse feces and eggs and teeming with the little creatures. The body louse is
transmitted by contact or by clothing or personal effects infested with nits.
Morphology.
Lice are dorso-ventrally flattened insects, sufficiently large to be detected easily
with the naked eye. Males are about 2 mm, females 3 mm, long.
The flattened, elongated, grayish-white body has an angular ovoid head, a fused
chitinous thorax, and a segmented abdomen. The head bears a pair of simple lateral
eyes, a pair of short antennae, and extensile piercing stylets.
Each of the three fused segments of the thorax bears a pair of strong, segmented
legs that terminate in a single hook-like claw and an opposing tibial process for
gripping hairs or fibers.
The last abdominal segment in the female bears a genital opening and two
lateral blunt gonopods, which clasp the hairs during oviposition.
The body louse is more robust than the head louse; both are 2 to 3 mm in length.
Life cycle.
The whole life cycle occurs on the human host.
Pediculus h. capitis infests the scalp. The female lice deposit their eggs on the
hair, where they are firmly attached. The operculated, white eggs or nits are quite
small and glistening white and may be seen with the naked eye. Besides nits also
fluoresce under ultraviolet light. Woods light, used in diagnosis of dermatologic
conditions, is a useful tool for screening large groups of people.
About 10 days after deposition they hatch into nymphs, which are structurally
quite similar to the adults and mature in about 2 weeks. Both larvae and adults feed
on blood obtained by their piercing mouth parts and a pumping device located in the
pharyngeal region.
The body louse, P. h. humanus (frequently called P. h. corporis), lives on the
protected parts of the body. Its life history is similar to that of the head louse, which it
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closely resembles. Eggs may remain viable on clothing for a month. The eggs hatch
in 5 to 11 days at 21 to 36C. Metamorphosis is incomplete. The nymph develops
within the egg case and emerges through the opened operculum. It undergoes three
molts within 2 weeks.
The average life cycle of the body or head louse covers 18 days. The life-span of
the adult is approximately 1 month.
The total number of eggs deposited during the lifetime has been estimated at 300
for the body louse, 140 for the head louse.
Clinical features.
The irritating saliva, injected during feeding, produces a roseate elevated papule
accompanied by severe itching. The head louse sucks most frequently on the back of
the head and neck; the body louse, on the parts of the body in contact with clothing;
and the crab louse, chiefly in the pubic region. Individuals vary in sensitivity.
Scratching increases the inflammation and secondary bacterial infection results in
pustules, crusts and suppurative processes. Severe infestations may produce scarring,
induration, pigmentation, and even ulceration of the skin. Infestation of the eyelashes
with secondary infection may lead to phlyctenular conjunctivitis and keratitis. Itching
is the earliest and most prominent symptom, and the sequelae of scratching are the
most characteristic signs.
The body louse is the vector of epidemic typhus, relapsing fever, and trench
fever. The head louse and the crab louse have never been incriminated in disease
transmission.
Typhus fever occurs in epidemics in crowded jails, in armies, and during
famines.
Lice become infected with the causative organism, Rickettsia prowazeki, by
ingesting the blood of a diseased person. The parasites multiply in the epithelium of
the midgut of the louse and are passed in the feces. The louse remains infective
throughout its shortened life. People usually acquire the infection by the
contamination of a bite wound, abraded skin, or mucous membranes with the infected
feces or crushed bodies of the lice.
The spirochete Borrelia recurrentis, the causative agent of epidemic relapsing
fever, when ingested with the blood of the patient, multiplies rapidly throughout the
body of the louse, which remains infective throughout its life. The various strains of
tick-borne relapsing fever do not survive in the louse. People are infected by the
contaminative method, the crushed body of the louse coming in contact with the bite
wound or abraded skin.
Trench fever, an incapacitating but nonfatal disease caused by R. quintana, was
present in epidemic form in World War I and later in endemic form in Europe and
Mexico. It is transmitted by the bite of the infected louse or by the contamination of
abraded skin by its feces.
Diagnosis.
Diagnosis, suspected from itching and the sequelae of scratching, depends upon
finding the adult louse or the nits of the head and crab lice. Louse eggs will fluoresce
under ultraviolet light, so an ultraviolet lamp, or Wood's light, is useful in detecting
5

presence of infestation, especially when screening large numbers of people. The eggs
of the body louse are usually hidden in the seams of the clothing.
Head or body lice are transferred from one person to the next by direct
contact or by contact with clothing, hats, or hair from lousy individuals. The body
louse may survive for more than a week in discarded clothing. Cloth - covered seats
in theaters, railway carriages, and other public places may be a source of infestation.
Lice are quite sensitive to high environmental temperatures and abandon a host who
has a fever. This is important in the transmission of louse-borne diseases.
Control, prevention.
Mass delousing methods are designed not only to exterminate the lice but also to
control the epidemic diseases that are transmitted by lice.
Various types of delousing plants for handling large numbers of persons have
been devised for military personnel and civilian populations.
For the mass delousing of Chilians, it is much simpler to administer insecticidal
powders such as 10% gamma benzene hexachloride or 10% DDT simultaneously to
the body and clothing. Persons coming in contact with lice-infested individuals in
typhus epidemics may be protected by wearing silk or rubber outer garments fastened
tightly at the wrist, ankles, and neck, and by impregnating their clothing with
repellents.
Strains of lice resistant to DDT have been reported in Korea, Egypt, Japan, and
North China.
Strains resistant to gamma benzene hexachloride (lindane) and malathion have
been noted outside of the United States. Exposure of infested clothing to temperatures
of 70C or greater for 30 minutes will kill lice and eggs.
PHTHIRUS PUBIS.
Phylum - Arthropoda
Class - Insecta
Order - Anoplura
Genus - Phthirus
Species Phthirus pubis
The pubic, or crab, louse, P. pubis, usually is found on the hairs of the genital
region but may occur elsewhere on the body.
Morphology.
The crab louse is distinguished by its small size, 0.8 to 1.2 mm, oblong turtle
shape, rectangular head, short, indistinctly segmented abdomen, and large, heavy
claws.
Phthirus is somewhat shorter and broader than Pediculus. It possesses powerful
legs, especially adapted to attachment to the hair, on which the eggs are laid.
Life-cycle.
The entire life is spent on the host, and the life cycle is completed in 10 to 30
days. While the head louse moves about rapidly, the pubic louse is much more
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sedentary in its habits.

The crab louse is usually transmitted during coitus by the transfer of adults or
nits on broken hairs and less frequently through toilet seats, clothing, or bedding. Recent sexual promiscuity has led to an increase in the prevalence of this louse.
ORDER APHANIPTERA (FLEAS).
Phylum - Arthropoda
Class - Insecta
Order - Aphaniptera
Genus - Pulex
Species Pulex irritans
Fleas are bloodsucking ectoparasites that, for feeding purposes, temporarily
infest mammals and birds. Pulex irritans (the human flea) is the most common flea
found on the humans in Europe and the western United States. It also infests hogs,
calves, dogs, rats, mice, cats, small wild rodents.
Morphology.
Fleas are small, brown, wingless insects, 2.0 to 2.5 mm, with laterally
compressed bodies. The small head may bear eyes and combs; all have antennae and
suctorial mouth parts. Each segment of the three-segmented thorax bears a pair of
powerful legs terminating in two curved claws.
Life-cycle.
The hosts of fleas are domesticated and wild animals, especially wild rodents.
The various species tend to be host-specific, but their activities permit the infestation
of animals other than their preferred hosts.
The life-span is about a year under favorable conditions of cool, moist
temperature, but the maximal survival period apart from the host is 38 to 125 days,
depending upon the species. The larvae die at 36C, but the adults can withstand
38C for 24 hours.
The adult fleas feed on their hosts, while the larvae live on any nutritive debris,
particularly dried blood and the feces of the adults. Both sexes are able to suck blood.
Fleas have unusual leaping powers, which enable them to transfer readily from host
to host.
In order to produce a large number of eggs, the female must copulate more than
once and take frequent blood meals. The small, ovoid, white or cream-colored eggs.
about 0.5 mm in length, are laid in the hairs or in the habitat of the host.
In houses they are deposited in small batches under rugs, in floor cracks, or on
the ground near and under buildings. Those deposited on the host usually drop off
before hatching.
Fleas develop by complete metamorphosis, passing through a larval and a pupal
stage in the host's environment. In 2 to 12 days the larva emerges from the egg as an
active, wormlike, white, eyeless, legless, bristled creature of 14 segments,
approximately 4.5 mm in length. It has a chewing mouth. It avoids light and seeks
crevices.
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The larval period usually lasts 7 to 30 days, during which time it undergoes two
or three molts, the last being within the silky pupal cocoon. The pupal stage lasts 14
to 21 days but at low temperatures may extend over a year. When the development of
the pupa is completed, the adult flea breaks out of the cocoon.
Diseases.
The incidence of human infestation varies with hygienic standards and the
association of man with animals.
Classification of different species of fleas is based upon morphologic features.
Humanity is an important host of Pulex irritans, Ctenocephalides canis, C. felis, and
Tunga penetrans, and an incidental host of several species parasitic on other animals.
Fleas are of medical interest chiefly in connection with the transmission of
plague and endemic typhus. They also may act as intermediate hosts of animal
parasites.
Humans acquire plague caused by the gram-negative bacillus, Yersinia pestis,
from the fleas that transmit the infection from rat to rat. However, human infection
can also occur from direct contact with tissues of infected wild rodents.
On the death of the rat near human habitations, the infected fleas seek new hosts,
either humans or other rats.
Pulex irritans has been found infected on persons dying of plague and is a
plague vector in the Chilean Andes, above the "rat line."
Endemic or murine typhus is transmitted from rat to rat and from rat to human
being by fleas. The causative agent, Rickettsia typhi, is excreted in the feces.
Infection is transmitted by the contamination of the bite wound or abraded skin with
the infectious feces or the crushed bodies of the fleas.
Fleas may act as mechanical vectors of a number of bacterial and viral diseases,
chiefly through contaminated feces wind-borne onto mucous membranes. P. irritans
acts as intermediate hosts of the dog tapeworm.
The cutaneous irritation caused by the salivary secretions of the flea in different
persons varies from no reaction to a raised, roseate, slightly edematous lesion, and in
sensitive individuals to a more extensive inflammation or papular rash.
Control, prevention.
Environmental control of fleas consists of spraying rat runways, harborage
areas, floors, and other areas with one of the following solutions (chlordane,
diazinon, lindane) in kerosene, fuel oil.
Diagnosis is made by detecting the dark portion of the fleas abdomen on the
skin surface. Surgical removal of the flea is indicated.
ORDER DIPTERA.
CULEX AND ANOPHELES MOSQUITOS.
Phylum - Arthropoda
Class - Insecta
Order - Diptera
Genus - Culex and Anopheles
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Mosquito is a small insect found everywhere usually in dark, damp places.

They live in houses, in cities and farms, and are abundant also in rural areas. They are
most abundant from March to May and again from July to October, at other times
they hibernate.
Each species has an effective flight range between the breeding grounds and the
sources of the blood meal, as well as a maximal rangefrom 1 to 3 miles for
Anopheles, up to 10 miles for Culex, and 50 to 100 miles for some Aedes, often
windblown.
Mosquitoes are attracted by bright light, dark-colored clothing, and the presence
of humans and animals.
Certain species are preeminently anthropophilic (human) in their bloodsucking
preferences, and others are essentially zoophilic (animals). Host preferences of the
different species may be determined by precipitin tests on the blood meals.
Predilection for humans determines the importance of an anopheline species as a
vector of malaria.
Both sexes feed on plant juices, but the females also suck the blood of
vertebrates. As a rule, females cannot produce fertile eggs without ingesting blood.
The females do not feed on blood daily but usually at intervals of several days. The
biting activities of the different species vary with age, time of day, and environment.
Likewise, the daily rhythm of attack varies with the season and temperature.
Certain species frequent houses for feeding and resting, while other species enter
houses only for feeding and spend their resting periods elsewhere. The former are
readily destroyed by spraying of the interior of the houses with residual insecticides.
Mating is preceded by the prenuptial swarming of the males in some species.
The anopheline and culicine mosquitoes deposit their eggs in water, but many Aedes
mosquitoes select shaded ground subject to intermittent flooding.
The maximal number of eggs deposited at one time is from 100 to 400. Many
anopheline species lay more than 1000 eggs in a lifetime. The life - span of male
mosquitoes is seldom more then three weeks, they die after impregnating the females.
The females live from four weeks to several months.
The females of species frequenting houses may hibernate as adults during
winter, and a few species pass the winter in the egg or larval stage. Species vary in
their natural susceptibility to environmental conditions and, possibly, in their ability
to develop resistance against insecticides. Birds, bats, toads, frogs, and dragon-flies
are natural enemies of the adults, and waterfowl, fish, and aquatic insects prey on the
larvae and pupae.
Morphology.
Mosquitoes are distinguished from other flies by:
1) the elongated mouth parts, adapted in the females for piercing and sucking
blood,
2) the long, 15-jointed antennae, plumose in the males and pilose in the females,
3) the characteristic wing venation, with scales.
The body of mosquito is divided into head, thorax and abdomen.
The head is small and round bearing a pair of antennae, a pair of compound eye
and mouth-parts.
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The mouth-parts of mosquito are of piercing and sucking type due to which all
the parts become elongated needle like in appearance. The mouth-parts consist of a
median long thick proboscis and a pair of maxillary palps situated one on each side
of the proboscis. The length and structure of the palp indicate the sex and genus of
mosquito. Mouth-parts are well developed in females because it sucks blood.
The maxillary palps of the female are slender and hairy, while those of the male
are long and ornamented like the antennae with tufts of hair, giving a plumed
appearance. The salivary glands are located in the prothorax. The male mosquito with
its weak mouth parts is unable to penetrate human skin and is therefore relegated to a
vegetarian dietplant juices.
Thorax consists of three segments - prothorax, mesothorax and metathorax.
Each segment bears a pair of delicate long segmented legs.
Mesothorax bears a pair of membranous wings which are used for flight.
The metathorax bears a pair of small outgrowths called halteres which represent
the vestiges of the second pair of wings and are used as balancers. The coloration and
pattern of the thoracic scales and bristles are useful in differentiating genera and
species.
Abdomen is long and nine segmented. Anus is in eighth and genital aperture in
the ninth segment. Each segment from second to eighth bears a pair of spiracles. In
male the tergum of ninth segment is bilobed on which is a clasper. Clasper is used
to hold the female during copulation.
Life-cycle.
The larval development of the diverse species occurs under extremely varied
environmental conditions, moisture being the chief essential. Most species use fresh
water for their aquatic stages, but some, chiefly culicines, breed in brackish or salt
water.
The life-cycle of Culex and Anopheles mosquito includes the same stages.
These are egg, larva, pupa and imago or adult stage.
There are certain differences in these stages between the two genera which are
following:
1. Eggs.
After copulation the female lays eggs in water.
a) Culex lays eggs in dirty water. About 200-400 eggs are laid at a time. The
eggs are cigar shaped and form a floating raft by cementing together in a group.
b) Anopheles lays eggs in clean water and 40-100 eggs are laid at a time. Each
egg is free and is provided with a lateral float. Within 3 days egg hatches into a
larva.
2. Larva.
Larva of mosquito is also called wriggler because it swims spirally in water.
The body is divisible into three parts: head, thorax and abdomen. Head is provided
with a pair of compound eyes, a pair of simple eyes, two antennae and mouth-parts.
The feeding brushes situated anterior to mouth produce a current of water, which
brings food particles to the mouth. The thorax is broad, unsegmented without legs
10

but is provided with groups of lateral bristles. The abdomen is nine segmented and in
each segment are lateral groups of bristles.
a) A long respiratory siphon is present on the dorsal side of the 8th segment in
the case of the Culex larva. Its larva lies obliquely making an acute angle with water
surface. The respiratory siphon only touches the water surface and the head hangs
down in the water. It leads an active life. It is about 1.25 mm long after 15 days of
hatching. It molts 4 times and changes into a pupa.
b) The head of Anopheles larva is longer then broad. The respiratory siphon is
absent. In 8th segment there is a pair of spiracles. The larva hangs horizontally by
means of bristles from the surface of water. This is a characteristic of the resting
position. The development is slow and the larval life lasts from two for four weeks.
3. Pupa.
Pupa of mosquito is generally called tumbler. The body is like a comma. Body
is divided into cephalothorax and abdomen.
a) In Culex pupa from the dorsal surface of cephalothorax come out two long
respiratory trumpets by means of pupa remains attached with water surface. Within
the cephalothorax can be seen the developing proboscis, antennae and compound
eyes. The pupa is very active but it does not feed as it has no mouth and anus. This
stage lasts for 2-3 days. This stage is not feeding stage but during this period internal
organs are formed.
b) Anopheles pupa has a large cephalothorax and more bend abdomen.
Respiratory trumpet is small with a wide funnel. The pupa stage in Anopheles lasts
only for one week.
4. Metamorphosis.
In the life-cycle of mosquito the egg hatches out into a larva which does not
resemble the adult and swims actively in water. It feeds and grows. After molting
four times it forms the pupa. The following internal changes take place during pupa
stage:
a) phagocytes destroy all the parts of pupa except the central nervous system
and the developing reproductive organs. This process is called histolysis;
b) some other cells called histoblasts start forming the adult structures. This
rebuilding process is called histogenesis. In this way within the covering of the pupa
are formed various internal organs and ultimately an imago.
5. Imago.
It is the well developed adult insect with strong legs and wings.
a) Imago of Culex has the following features:
- body is grey colored
- wings uniformly colored
- in the female maxillary palp is small (about 1/3 of the length of proboscis)
- during the rest body lies parallel to surface.
b) Imago of Anopheles is characterized by:
- thin soft body
- body is grey and hairy
- wings are spotted
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- in female maxillary palp is almost equal to proboscis

- body makes an angle (450) with the surface.
Diseases, clinical features.
1) In biting, the piercing apparatus probes beneath the skin until a blood supply
is tapped, at which time feeding may take place from the blood vessel or from the
extravasated blood. The intermittently injected saliva may contain substances that
stimulate capillary dilation or slow coagulation.
Some bites cause little irritation and others a considerable amount. The ordinary
bite is followed by erythema, swelling, and itching. Vesicular bullae may appear, and
secondary infections may result from scratching. Salivary antigens elicit immediate
allergic as well as delayed-type skin reactions.
2) Mosquitoes serve as biologic or mechanical vectors of bacterial, helminthic,
protozoan, and viral diseases of humans and lower animals.
In addition, some day-flying and day-biting mosquitoes carry the eggs of the
myiasis-producing warble fly to the skin of humans and other mammals. The species
that are important vectors are listed under the respective diseases.
Aedes carries virus-like bacteria which are responsible for causing yellow fever
and dengue. Yellow fever confined to South America and Africa.
Culex, Anopheles and Aedes are responsible for carrying of the infective stage
of W. bancrofti which is the causative agent of filiriasis, elephantiasis.
Aedes, Culex and Psorophora mosquitoes are associated with encephalitis and
dermatobia.
3) Anopheles females carry the causative agent of malaria - Plasmodium.
The only vectors of human and simian malaria are anopheline mosquitoes, while
both anopheline and culicine mosquitoes carry avian malaria.
Many species of Anopheles may be infected experimentally, but relatively few
are important natural vectors. Some 110 species have been associated with the
transmission of malaria, of which 50 are of general or local importance.
The aptitude of a species for transmitting malaria is determined by:
1) its presence in or near human habitations,
2) its preference for human rather than animal blood, although when animals are
scarce, zoophilic species may feed on humans,
3) an environment that favors its propagation and provides a life-span sufficiently long for the plasmodia to complete their life cycles,
4) physiologic susceptibility to infection.
The suitability of a species as a potential vector may be determined by recording
the percentage of infected mosquitoes after feeding on a malarial patient, but its
importance as a vector is ascertained by obtaining the index of natural infections,
usually from 1 to 5%, in female mosquitoes collected in houses in a malarial district.
Control.
Mosquito control requires knowledge of the habits of the particular species, the
12

climate of the country, and the habits and socioeconomic status of the population.
Mosquitoes may be controlled by:
1) elimination or reduction of their breeding grounds,
2) destruction of the larvae,
3) destruction of adult mosquitoes.
More than one method may be required. The effectiveness of control measures
may be evaluated by the reduction in mosquito population and decline in incidence of
the transmitted diseases.
a) Control of breeding places.
Mosquitoes generally breed in dirty or clean stagnant water. The destruction of
breeding grounds, essentially an engineering problem, gives permanent results but
involves high initial and maintenance costs. Drainage is applicable to species of
limited flight range that breed in quiet bodies of water, but it must be supplemented
by the filling of depressions. Extensive drainage operations are seldom practicable,
but they are of value at selected sites. Water-level management and the removal of
vegetation from the banks and surfaces of streams and ponds reduce the breeding
grounds of many species.
Changing the water level by intermittent flushing has proved useful for
controlling species that breed in impounded waters and flowing streams. Tide gates
have been installed for the control of brackish-water-breeding mosquitoes.
b) Destruction of larvae and pupae.
Various measures, including the use of both chemical and biologic agents, are
used for the control of mosquitoes, as well as other medically important arthropods.
Aquatic, surface-inhabiting larvae can be killed by application of oils or other organic
surface films that interfere with the gas exchange of larvae or affect the emergence of
adults.
Many insecticides of four different chemical classes may be used against larval
or adult stages of mosquitoes. These include:
(1) the chlorinated hydrocarbons such as DDT, BHC, and dieldrin,
(2) the organic phosphates, such as malathion and parathion,
(3) the carbamates, such as landrin and bendiocarb,
(4) the pyrethroids, such as permathrin and decamethrin. These insecticides can
be used in different ways, in aerosols for rapid knockdown of adult mosquitoes or
incorporated into liquid or solid materials for slow-release residual action after being
sprayed or dusted on surfaces. In addition, insecticide-impregnated bed nets have
recently been shown to be quite effective for control of malaria transmission.
The residual spraying of the interior walls of houses or outbuildings with DDT
was the main instrument of malaria control and eradication programs throughout the
world for many years.
This practice was based upon the knowledge that many anopheline vectors
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entered buildings for their human blood meals and rested on the walls before or after
feeding, thereby coming into contact with the insecticide. But almost as fast as new
insecticides have been introduced, resistant strains of mosquitoes have been selected
out and emerged. Thus, the effort of human beings to control insect vectors goes on
a never-ending battle.
Another complicating factor has been the increasing awareness of nature lovers
and environmentalists of the actual and potential damage to other elements of the
biologic chain of life by the indiscriminate and widespread use of insecticides.
The problems associated with insecticide use have also stimulated new
approaches to vector control. These involve biologic methods and include such
measures as introduction of larva-eating fish (Gambusia spp.) in lakes and ponds, use
of hormones that inhibit insect growth and development, other hormones that attract
insects (pheromones), and toxins produced by bacteria (Bacillus thuringiensis). These
biologic methods of control are still in their early development.
c) Destruction of adults and protection from mosquitoes.
The protection of humans against mosquitoes comprises:
- mosquito-proofing of buildings with 18-mesh wire screening;
- mosquito nets over beds;
- protective clothing, such as head nets, gloves, and high boots;
- and repellents applied to skin and clothing.
Effective repellents, such as butopyronoxyl (Indalone), dimethyl phthalate,
Rutgers 612, and diethyltoluamide (Off), are effective for several hours.
MUSCA DOMESTICA.
Phylum - Arthropoda
Class - Insecta
Order - Diptera
Genus - Musca domestica (housefly)
The common housefly M. domestica infests human habitations throughout the
world. The eggs are laid in lots of about 100 in manure or refuse.
The entire life cycle occupies 7 to 10 days, and the adult fly lives about a month.
Its larvae are responsible for an occasional intestinal and genitourinary myiasis.
The adult fly feeds indiscriminately on anything from feces or garbage to dinner
on the table.
Therefore, it may serve as a mechanical vector of pathogenic bacteria, protozoa,
and helminthic eggs and larvae, especially of enteric disease organisms. The extent of
disease transmission by flies under natural conditions is difficult to determine.
Control is a community measure, since flies travel considerable distances, but
screening and trapping protect the individual home.
Adequate control involves the elimination of breeding places by the disposal or
chemical treatment of animal excrement, garbage, and decaying vegetation, and
spraying of the interiors of houses and barns with appropriate residual insecticides.
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Pyrethroid-coated fiberglass strips can be hung in barns. On chicken farms,

biologic control in the form of feeding juvenile hormone to chickens has been used to
inhibit development of larvae in the chicken manure.
In addition, in this setting, the release of a microhymenopteran parasite,
Spalangia endius, has been effective.

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