Malaria is a serious health problem in the states of Córdoba and Antioquia, Northwestern Colombia, where 64.4% of total Colombian cases were reported in 2007. Because little entomological information is available in this region, the aim of this work was to identify the Anopheles species composition and natural infectivity of mosquitoes distributed in seven localities with highest malaria transm...

Two new species within the Anopheles gambiae complex are here described and named. Based on molecular and bionomical evidence, the An. gambiae molecular "M form" is named Anopheles coluzzii Coetzee & Wilkerson sp. n., while the "S form" retains the nominotypical name Anopheles gambiae Giles. Anopheles quadriannulatus is retained for the southern African populations of this species, while the Et...

Wolbachia pipientis bacteria are maternally inherited endosymbionts that are of interest to control the Anopheles mosquito vectors of malaria. Wolbachia does not infect Anopheles mosquitoes in nature, although cultured Anopheles cells can be infected. Here, we show that the virulent Wolbachia strain wMelPop can survive and replicate when injected into female Anopheles gambiae adults, but the so...

Identification of the Anopheles gambiae leucokinin gene from the completed A. gambiae genome revealed that this insect species contains three leucokinin peptides, named Anopheles leucokinin I-III. These peptides are similar to those identified in two other mosquito species, Aedes aegypti and Culex salinarius. Additionally, Anopheles leucokinin I displays sequence similarity to Drosophila melano...

Circumsporozoite protein enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (CSP-ELISAs) are widely used for malaria vector identification throughout the world. However, several studies have reported false-positive results when using this method. The present study was conducted to estimate the frequency of false positives among anopheline species in malaria endemic areas of Bangladesh. In total, 4724 Anopheles...

Seventy-six sites characterized in Amazonian Brazil revealed distinct habitat diversification by examining the environmental factors associated with the distribution and abundance of five anopheline species (Diptera: Culicidae) in the subgenus Nyssorhynchus. These included three members of the Albitarsis Complex, Anopheles oryzalimnetes, Anopheles marajoara, Anopheles janconnae; Anopheles trian...

In this study we 1) describe the abundance of Anopheles and culicine immatures in different water body types in urban Malindi, Kenya, 2) compare Anopheles immature density in relation to culicine immature density, and 3) identify characteristics that influence the likelihood of water bodies being co-colonized by Anopheles and culicines. Entomological and environmental cross-sectional surveys co...

In the present study, we used morphological characters to estimate phylogenetic relationships among members of the subgenus Anopheles Meigen. Phylogenetic analyses were carried out for 36 species of Anopheles (Anopheles). An. (Stethomyia) kompi Edwards, An. (Lophopodomyia) gilesi (Peryassú), Bironella hollandi Taylor, An. (Nyssorhynchus) oswaldoi (Peryassú) and An. (Cellia) maculatus Theobald w...