Anopheles merus
Taxonomy
This page represents the following TreeOfLife-200M taxonomic path.[1]
- Kingdom: Animalia
- Phylum: Arthropoda
- Class: Insecta
- Order: Diptera
- Family: Culicidae
- Genus: Anopheles
- Species: Anopheles merus
Visual Description
Anopheles merus is a mosquito species. Based on observations from the TreeOfLife-200M dataset, specimens exhibit typical culicid morphology, including slender bodies, long legs, and prominent, forward-projecting mouthparts (proboscis) characteristic of the genus Anopheles.[1]
Ecology and Distribution
Anopheles merus is a member of the Anopheles gambiae complex.[2] In Madagascar, its distribution is restricted to the coastal fringe in the south and west, specifically within 20 km of the seashore.[2]
While historically associated with salt marshes or crab-holes, An. merus in Madagascar does not appear to be strictly dependent on mangrove swamps, as it has been observed in areas lacking mangroves.[2]
Medical Importance
The species' role as a malaria vector in Madagascar was confirmed through the detection of Plasmodium falciparum circumsporozoite protein in human-biting females.[2]
Identification
Molecular identification using PCR targeting the IGS of the rDNA has been employed to distinguish An. merus from other members of the An. gambiae complex, with specific amplification fragments of 466 bp.[2]
Gallery
References
- 1 2 Dataset view for Animalia / Arthropoda / Insecta / Diptera / Culicidae / Anopheles / merus constructed from imageomics/TreeOfLife-200M records under this taxonomic path. Hugging Face Datasets. https://huggingface.co/datasets/imageomics/TreeOfLife-200M.
- 1 2 3 4 5 Jean-Michel Léong Pock Tsy; Jean‐Bernard Duchemin; Laurence Marrama; Patrick Rabarison; Gilbert Le Goff; V. Rajaonarivelo; Vincent Robert. Distribution of the species of the Anopheles gambiae complex and first evidence of Anopheles merus as a malaria vector in Madagascar. Malaria Journal. 2003. https://doi.org/10.1186/1475-2875-2-33.