Mosquitoes are flying insects known to have about 3500 species of smaller insects. They are slender and have segmented body: one pair of wings, three pairs of long hair-like legs, feathery antennae and elongated mouthparts.
Their consistent cycle consisting of egg, larva, pupa and imago stages gives them the ability to reproduce at a rapid rate. In most species, adult females lay their eggs in stagnant water, some species also prefer to breed in lakes, some in temporary puddles while others in saltwater.
Mosquitoes are known to be the main cause of malaria. The female anopheles mosquitoes pick up the parasite from infected people when they bite to obtain blood needed to nurture their eggs. The parasites multiply rapidly in the liver and then in red blood cells of infected persons.
Algeria is the first place in the world where the malaria parasite was discovered by French physician Dr Charles Louis Alphonse Laveran in 1880. It reported its last case of indigenous malaria in 2013 after a hard battle against the disease for hundreds of years.
On this day in 1987, Sir Ronald Ross discovered that female mosquitoes transmit malaria between humans. His discovery prompted the annual celebration of 20th August as World Mosquito Day.
With the continuous fight to eradicate malaria in Africa, these places in the continent are somewhat mosquito-free.
