MOSQIUTOES

The mosquito genus Anopheles carries the malaria parasite (see Plasmodium).
Worldwide, malaria is a leading cause of premature mortality, particularly in children
under the age of five, with around 5.3 million deaths annually, according to the Centers
for Disease Control. Some species of mosquito can carry the filariasis worm, a parasite
that causes a disfiguring condition (often referred to as elephantiasis) characterized by a
great swelling of several parts of the body; worldwide, around 40 million people are
living with a filariasis disability. The viral diseases yellow fever and dengue fever are
transmitted mostly by Aedes aegypti mosquitoes. Other viral diseases like epidemic
polyarthritis, Rift Valley fever, Ross River Fever, St. Louis encephalitis, West Nile virus
(WNV), Japanese encephalitis, La Crosse encephalitis and several other encephalitis type
diseases are carried by several different mosquitoes. Eastern equine encephalitis (EEE)
and Western equine encephalitis (WEE) occurs in the United States where it causes
disease in humans, horses, and some bird species. Because of the high mortality rate,
EEE and WEE are regarded as two of the most serious mosquito-borne diseases in the
United States. Symptoms range from mild flu-like illness to encephalitis, coma and
death.[27] Viruses carried by arthropods such as mosquitoes or ticks are known collectively
as arboviruses. West Nile virus was accidentally introduced into the United States in 1999
and by 2003 had spread to almost every state with over 3,000 cases in 2006.
A mosquito's period of feeding is often undetected; the bite only becomes apparent
because of the immune reaction it provokes. When a mosquito bites a human, she injects
saliva and anti-coagulants. For any given individual, with the initial bite there is no
reaction but with subsequent bites the body's immune system develops antibodies and a
bite becomes inflamed and itchy within 24 hours. This is the usual reaction in young
children. With more bites, the sensitivity of the human immune system increases, and an
itchy red hive appears in minutes where the immune response has broken capillary blood
vessels and fluid has collected under the skin. This type of reaction is common in older
children and adults. Some adults can become desensitized to mosquitoes and have little or
no reaction to their bites, while others can become hyper-sensitive with bites causing
blistering, bruising, and large inflammatory reactions, a response known as Skeeter
Syndrome.

The dragonfly eats mosquitoes at all stages of development and is quite effective in
controlling populations

• Subfamily Anophelinae

• Anopheles

• Subfamily Culicinae

• Aedes (sometimes divided with Ochlerotatus).

• Culex

• Subfamily Toxorhynchitinae

• Toxorhynchites

Life of a mosquito

A mosquito's life is divided into four stages: (1) egg, (2) larva, (3) pupa, and (4) adult. At
each stage the mosquito's appearance changes completely, and the insect lives a different
kind of life. In warm climates, some species develop from newly hatched eggs into
adults in only a week. In the cold climate of the far north, mosquito eggs may remain
dormant from autumn until late spring. They hatch in May or June, and take a month or
more to grow into adults.

Egg. A female mosquito lays from 100 to 300 eggs at a time, depending on the species.
One female may lay as many as 3,000 eggs during her lifetime. The eggs are laid through
an opening at the tip of the abdomen.
The females of most species of mosquitoes lay their eggs in water or near it, but each
species has a favourite spot. Some like quiet swamps, and others prefer salt marshes.
Still others lay their eggs in hidden pools that form in tin cans, rain barrels, gutters, fallen
logs, or hollow tree stumps.

All mosquito eggs must have moisture to hatch, but not all species lay their eggs in water.
Certain mosquitoes, called floodwater mosquitoes, drop their eggs in moist soil on flood
plains and on irrigation sites. The eggs hatch after a flood takes place--perhaps a year
later. Other species, sometimes called pond mosquitoes, lay their eggs in hollow places
left by ponds that have dried up. The eggs hatch after rains fill the ponds with water. Not
all of the eggs of these mosquitoes hatch after the first rain. The eggs must be soaked by
a second or even a third rain before they hatch into larvae.

Larva of a mosquito is often called a wriggler because it is so active. The wrigglers of

most species move about by jerking their bodies through the water.

A wriggler looks somewhat like a worm or a caterpillar. A thin, skinlike shell covers its
body. The wriggler has a broad head, with two short, bushy antennae on each side. It has
two eyes behind the antennae, near the back of the head. Its mouth is on the underside of
the head, near the front. Long hairs called mouth brushes grow around the jaws and
sweep food into the wriggler's mouth. Unlike an adult mosquito, a wriggler can open its
jaws and chew its food. It eats small plants and small animals that live in the water,
including other wrigglers and one-celled animals called protozoans.

A wriggler breathes through a tubelike siphon (air tube) at the rear of its body. To get air,
it pushes its siphon above the surface of the water.

The larvae of certain swamp mosquitoes do not have to come to the surface for air. They
get air from the leaves, stems, and roots of various underwater plants. The larva of one
kind of swamp mosquito has a breathing tube with two sharp tips. It uses one tip to hold
itself to the plant, and moves the other tip back and forth in the plant tissue to get the
oxygen stored there.

The larvae of many species of mosquitoes grow quickly. They moult (shed their skins
and grow new ones) four times in 4 to 10 days. After the last moult, the larvae change
into pupae. The larvae of some species spend the winter in hibernation. They change
into pupae early in spring.

Pupa. A mosquito pupa is shaped somewhat like a comma. The head and thorax are
rolled into a ball, and the abdomen hangs down like a curved tail. A thin "skin," like that
of the larva, covers the pupa's body. The pupa breathes through trumpet-shaped tubes
attached to the top of its thorax. The pupa sticks these tubes out of the water to get air.
The pupa of certain swamp mosquitoes, whose larva gets air from underwater plants,
pushes its tubes into the plant. After this pupa has changed into an adult, it pulls out the
tubes or breaks them off and leaves them in the plant. The pupa then swims to the
surface.

The pupae of most species of insects do not move, but almost all kinds of mosquito pupae
can swim. These pupae are sometimes called tumblers because they roll and tumble in
the water.

A mosquito pupa does not eat. It changes into an adult in two to four days. The pupal
"skin" splits down the back, and the adult mosquito pushes its head and front legs out.
The insect then pulls out the rest of its body.

Adult. After the adult mosquito leaves the pupal "skin," its wings dry quickly and it flies
a short distance away. Most species of mosquitoes spend their whole lives within about
1.5 kilometres of the place where they hatched. A few kinds may travel as far as 30
kilometres away to find food or mates.

A female mosquito attracts a mate by the high-pitched sound made by her wings. The
males are deaf for the first 24 to 48 hours of their lives, until the hairs on their antennae
are dry.

The females of some species must sip blood before they can lay eggs that will hatch.
Each species of female prefers the blood of certain kinds of animals. Some feed only on
frogs, snakes, or other cold-blooded animals. Others prefer birds. Still others suck the
blood of cows, horses, and people.

Male mosquitoes may live only about 7 to 10 days, but females may live up to 30 days or
more. The females of some species live through the winter in barns, garages, houses,
caves, or in the bark of logs. Some species spend the winter as eggs or as larvae. They
develop into adults in spring.

HOUSE FLIES

House flies are gray, approximately 6 mm (1/4 inch) long, with four dark longitudinal
stripes on top of the thorax, or middle body region. The mouth parts of the house fly are
adapted for sponging up liquids. They cannot bite. Flies ingest only liquid food; they feed
on solid food by regurgitating saliva onto it. The saliva liquefies the solid material, which
is then sponged up with the proboscis. They require water since they continually salivate.
Fly specks seen on surfaces visited by house flies are the excreted wastes.
Life Cycle:

Female house flies deposit their eggs in decaying organic matter such as garbage and
human and animal excrement. Horse manure is the preferred breeding medium. Each
female deposits about 100-150 eggs on appropriate food. Eggs hatch in a day or two into
worm-like creatures called maggots. Maggots lack definite heads, eyes, antennae and
legs. Their bodies are pointed at the front end and gradually widen at the rear. Fly
maggots feed on the material in which they have hatched. Following three larval molts,
mature larvae stop feeding and burrow into drier surrounding areas, where they pupate.
The pupa is a chestnut-brown, oval object within which the larva changes into an adult
house fly. Adults mate within one to two days after emerging from their pupal cases. The
life cycle from egg to adult can be completed in as little as one week, but typically takes
three weeks. House fly adults normally live about two and a half weeks during the
summer, but they can survive up to three months at lower temperatures. Some overwinter
outdoors in protected locations, or in crevices in buildings. Flies normally stay within one
or two miles of their point of origin, but some have been known to travel as far as twenty
miles.

Control:

The three basic principles of house fly control are sanitation, exclusion and non-chemical
measures. Sanitation will provide the best long-term control, followed by exclusion and
non-chemical measures, which provide shorter-term management.

Sanitation: Flies can't breed in large numbers if food sources are limited. Don't allow
materials such as manure, garbage or other decaying organic matter to accumulate. Keep
trash cans clean and tightly covered. If garbage becomes infested with maggots, dispose
of it immediately.

Exclusion: Flies can be kept outside of homes by the use of window and door screens.
Make sure screens are tight fitting and without holes. Keep doors closed, making sure
there are no openings at the top or bottom. Check for openings around water or gas pipes
or electrical conduits that feed into the building. Caulk or plug any openings. Ventilation
holes should be screened, as they can serve as entryways for flies as well.

Non-chemical Measures: The use of devices such as ultraviolet-light traps, sticky fly
traps, fly swatters, and baited fly traps can eliminate many flies inside a home, but the fly
swatter is the most economical control method for the occasional fly.

Shigellosis, Cholera, Typhoid Fever (Salmonella typhi)

TICKS
Hard ticks have three distinct life stages. Larvae which emerge from the egg have six
legs. After obtaining a blood meal from a vertebrate host, they molt to the nymphal stage
and acquire eight legs. Nymphs feed and molt to the next and final stage - the adult,
which also has eight legs. After feeding once more, the adult female hard ticks lay one
batch of thousands of eggs and then die. Only one blood meal is taken during each of the
three life stages. The time to completion of the entire life cycle may vary from less than a
year in tropical regions to over three years in cold climates, where certain stages may
enter diapause until hosts are again
available. Many hard ticks can go for
several months without feeding if not
unduly duressed by environmental
conditions.

The mouthparts of hard ticks are readily

visible from above. There are three visible
components: the two outside jointed parts
are the highly mobile palps; between these
are paired chelicerae, which protect the
center rod-shaped structure, the
hypostome. The palps move laterally Scanning Electron Micrograph
while the tick is feeding and do not enter of Tick Mouthparts
the skin of the host. The rough hypostome
has many beak-like projections on it. This is the structure which plunges into the host's
skin while feeding. The backward directed projections prevent easy removal of the
attached tick. In addition, most hard ticks secrete a cement-like substance produced by
the salivary glands which literally glues the feeding tick in place; the substance dissolves
after feeding is complete.

Hard ticks seek hosts by an interesting behavior called "questing." Questing ticks crawl
up the stems of grass or perch on the edges of leaves on the ground in a typical posture
with the front legs extended, especially in response to a host passing by. Certain
biochemicals such as carbon dioxide as well as heat and movement serve as stimuli for
questing behavior. Subsequently, these ticks climb on to a potential host which brushes
against their extended front legs. Hard ticks are most commonly collected for research by
the use of "flags" or "drags" which are made from 1 m square pieces of roughly textured
fabric such as fleece or flannel attached to a rod handle. The flags are slowly dragged
across the surface of vegetation to collect questing ticks. Hard ticks feed for extended
periods of time on their hosts, varying from several days to weeks, depending on such
factors as life stage, host type, and species of tick. The outside surface, or cuticle, of hard
ticks actually grows to accommodate the large volume of blood ingested, which, in adult
ticks, may be anywhere from 200-600 times their unfed body weight (Sonenshine 1991).

Lifecycles of Hard Ticks

Hard ticks have a variety of life histories with respect to optimizing their chance of
contact with an appropriate host to ensure survival. Some ticks feed on only one host
throughout all three life stages. These ticks are called one host ticks. This type of tick
remains on one host during the larval and nymphal stages, until they become adults, and
females drop off the host after feeding to lay their batch of eggs. Other ticks feed on two
hosts during their lives and are called two host ticks. This type of tick feeds and remains
on the first host during the larval and nymphal life stages, and then drops off and attaches
to a different host as an adult for its final blood meal. The adult female then drops off
after feeding to lay eggs. Finally, many ticks feed on three hosts, one during each life
stage, and are appropriately named three host ticks. These ticks drop off and reattach to
a new host during each life stage, until finally the adult females lay their batch of eggs. In
each case, the fed adult stage is terminal, that is, after laying one batch of eggs the female
dies, and after the male has reproduced, he dies as well.

Soft Ticks: Family Argasidae

The life stages of soft ticks are not readily distinguishable. The first life stage to come out
of the egg, a six legged larva, takes a blood meal from a host, and molts to the first
nymphal stage. Unlike hard ticks, many soft ticks go through multiple nymphal stages,
gradually increasing in size until the final molt to the adult stage. Some soft ticks pass
through up to seven nymphal molts before they become adults. Soft ticks feed several
times during each life stage, and females lay multiple small batches of eggs between
blood meals during their lives. The time to completion of the entire life cycle is generally
much longer than that of hard ticks, lasting over several years. Additionally, many soft
ticks have an uncanny resistance to starvation, and can survive for many years without a
blood meal (Furman and Loomis 1984).

The mouthparts of soft ticks are are not readily visible from above. There are three visible
components: the two outside jointed parts are the highly mobile palps; between these are
paired chelicerae, which protect the center rod-shaped structure, the hypostome. The
palps move laterally while the tick is feeding and do not enter the skin of the host. The
rough hypostome has many beak-like projections on it. This is the structure which
plunges into the host's skin while feeding. The backward directed projections prevent
easy removal of the attached tick.

Some soft ticks seek hosts by questing on low-lying vegetation, but the vast majority are
nest parasites, residing in sheltered environments such as burrows, caves, or nests.
Certain biochemicals such as carbon dioxide as well as heat and movement serve as
stimuli for host seeking behavior. Soft ticks feed for short periods of time on their hosts,
varying from several minutes to days, depending on such factors as life stage, host type,
and species of tick. The feeding behavior of many soft ticks can be compared to that of
fleas or bedbugs, as once established, they reside in the nest of the host, feeding rapidly
when the host returns and disturbs the contents. The outside surface, or cuticle, of soft
ticks expands, but does not grow to accommodate the large volume of blood ingested,
which may be anywhere from 5-10 times their unfed body weight (Sonenshine 1991).
Soft ticks can be readily collected via dry ice traps. Blocks of dry ice emit large amounts
of carbon dioxide, a host seeking stimulant. Traps are set in and around nesting areas of
animal hosts. Soft ticks can be observed running along the surface of the ground towards
the trap and are collected by hand, or inside a collection chamber in the trap. Many types
of soft ticks can be artificially fed in the laboratory, thus reducing or eliminating the use
of animals for certain studies. Some (ie: Ornithodorus coriaceus) will feed through
sausage casings filled with almost any type of mammal blood heated up to 37° C. Others
can be fed blood through various types of membranes in the presence of biochemical and
environmental feeding stimulants such as ATP, carbon dioxide, heat, and animal fur
(Sonenshine 1993).

LOUSE
Identification

Three types of lice infest humans: the body louse, Pediculus humanus humanus Linnaeus,
also known as Pediculus humanus corporis; the head louse Pediculus humanus capitis De
Geer; and the crab louse (or pubic louse), Pthirus pubis (Linnaeus).

Head lice and body lice are morphologically indistinguishable, although head lice are
smaller than body lice. Head lice and pubic lice are highly dependent upon human body
warmth and will die if separated from their host for 24 hours. Body lice are more hardy
since they live on clothing and can survive if separated from human contact for up to a
week without feeding.

head louse (left) and crab louse (right)

Biology

Lice have simple or gradual metamorphosis. The immatures and adults look similar,
except for size. Lice do not have wings or powerful jumping legs so they move about by
clinging to hairs with claw-like legs. Head lice prefer to live on the hair of the head
although they have been known to wander to other parts of the body. Head lice do not
normally live within rugs, carpet, or school buses. Body lice live in the seams of clothing,
generally where it touches the skin, and only contact the body to feed, usually holding on
to the clothing while they do this. However, sometimes they will move to the body itself.

The eggs of lice are called nits. They are oval white cylinders (1/16 inch long). The eggs
of head lice are usually glued to hairs of the head near the scalp. The favorite areas for
females to glue the eggs are near the ears and back of the head. The eggs of body lice are
laid on clothing fibers and occasionally on human body hairs.

Under normal conditions the eggs will hatch in seven to 11 days. The young lice which
escape from the egg must feed within 24 hours or they will die. Newly hatched lice will
periodically take blood meals and molt three times before becoming sexually mature
adults. Normally a young louse will mature in 10 to 12 days to an adult (1/8 inch in
length). Adults range in color from white to brown to dark gray.

Female lice lay six to seven eggs (nits) per day and may lay a total of 50 to 100 eggs
during their life which may last up to 40 days. Adults can only survive one to two days
without a blood meal. The nymphs and adults all have piercing-sucking mouthparts
which pierce the skin for a blood meal. The reaction of individuals to louse bites can vary
considerably. Persons previously unexposed to lice experience little irritation from their
first bite. After a short time individuals may become sensitized to the bites, and may react
with a general allergic reaction including reddening of the skin, itching, and overall
inflammation.

crab louse egg (left); body louse egg (right)

Both the immature or nymphal forms and adult lice feed on human blood. To feed, the
louse bites through the skin and injects saliva which prevents blood from clotting; it then
sucks blood into its digestive tract. Bloodsucking may continue for a long period if the
louse is not disturbed. While feeding, lice may excrete dark red feces onto the skin.
Symptoms of Louse Infestation

Head lice should be suspected when there is intense itching and scratching of the scalp
and the back of the neck or when there is a known infestation in the community. Close
examination of the scalp will reveal small, whitish or dark eggs (nits) firmly attached to
hair shafts, especially at the nape of the neck and above the ears. Inspection may reveal
active lice and many itchy, red marks resulting from irritation caused by the saliva of the
louse. Although dandruff may resemble eggs, it can be removed easily from hair, whereas
louse eggs are attached firmly to the hair with cement secreted by the louse and cannot be
removed easily by pulling. When an infestation becomes known, it is advisable to
examine all members of the family, especially other children, and others who have been
in contact with the infested person within recent weeks to be sure that they have not
become infested.

Body lice are found in tight-fitting sites or seams of clothing, usually close to the skin.
Only in heavy infestations will body lice be seen on other layers of clothing. Infestations
usually occur where humans continuously wear several layers of clothing due to
inadequate heating or during periods of war or natural disasters. Louse infestations may
also occur in poorly managed nursing homes, and among the poor and homeless. The
main reasons for these infestations are the failure to change garments and/or inadequate
laundering.

Disease Transmission

The body louse is the vector of three human diseases -- epidemic or louse-borne typhus,
caused by Rickettsia prowazeki de Rocha-Lima; trench fever, caused by Rochalimaea
quintana (Schmincke) Krieg (long known as Rickettsia quintana); and louse-borne
relapsing fever, caused by Borrellia recurrentis (Lebert) Bergy et al. (PAHO 1973). These
diseases are not presently being reported from the United States, but their introduction at
some future time is not impossible if body louse infestations should become sufficiently
prevalent. Although head lice have been experimentally infected with Rickettsia
prowazeki, neither head lice nor pubic lice have been implicated directly in active disease
transmission (Roy and Brown 1954). Although body lice may pose the most serious
health threat in many countries, head lice appear to be the greatest nuisance, particularly
among school children in highly developed countries where their presence is considered
intolerable