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Concept
Anopheles
Summary
Anopheles or Marsh Mosquitoes(əˈnɒfᵻliːz) is a genus of mosquito first described and named by J. W. Meigen in 1818. About 460 species are recognized; while over 100 can transmit human malaria, only 30–40 commonly transmit parasites of the genus Plasmodium, which cause malaria in humans in endemic areas. Anopheles gambiae is one of the best known, because of its predominant role in the transmission of the most dangerous malaria parasite species (to humans) – Plasmodium falciparum.
The name comes from the Ancient Greek word ἀνωφελής anōphelḗs 'useless', derived from ἀν- an-, 'not', 'un-' and ὄφελος óphelos 'profit'.
Mosquitoes in other genera (Aedes, Culex, Culiseta, Haemagogus, and Ochlerotatus) can also serve as vectors of disease agents, but not human malaria.
The ancestors of Drosophila and the mosquitoes diverged . The culicine and Anopheles clades of mosquitoes diverged between and . The Old and New World Anopheles species subsequently diverged between and . Anopheles darlingi diverged from the African and Asian malaria vectors ~. The Anopheles gambiae and Anopheles funestus clades diverged between and . A molecular study of several genes in seven species has provided additional support for an expansion of this genus during the Cretaceous period.
The Anopheles genome, at 230–284 million base pairs (Mbp), is comparable in size to that of Drosophila, but considerably smaller than those found in other culicine genomes (528 Mbp–1.9 Gbp). Like most culicine species, the genome is diploid with six chromosomes.
The only known fossils of this genus are those of Anopheles (Nyssorhynchus) dominicanus Zavortink & Poinar contained in Dominican amber from the Late Eocene ( to ) and Anopheles rottensis Statz contained in German amber from the Late Oligocene ( to ).
Taxonomy of Anopheles
The genus Anopheles Meigen (nearly worldwide distribution) belongs to the subfamily Anophelinae together with another two genera: Bironella Theobald (Australia only) and Chagasia Cruz (Neotropics). The taxonomy remains incompletely settled.
Official source
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