African malaria mosquito
Anopheles gambiae
The African malaria mosquito is a small, thin mosquito with long legs. The females need blood to make their eggs.
Lives in
Africa south of the Sahara, near water where its babies grow
Can it hurt you?
Dangerous: look, do not touch
It can spread malaria, a serious illness, when it bites. Look at it, do not touch it, and tell a grown-up if you get bitten where malaria is found. Bed nets help keep it away at night.
What does it eat?
The females drink blood from people and also from animals like cattle, goats and sheep.
How fast is it?
A tortoise about 0.3 km/h (0.19 mph)
African malaria mosquito about 2 km/h (1.2 mph)
A person walking about 5 km/h (3.1 mph)
A kid running fast about 13 km/h (8.1 mph)
cool stuff
Fun facts
1
What looks like one kind of mosquito is really a group of at least seven kinds that look exactly the same.
2
Scientists only found out it was a group of different kinds in the 1960s.
3
Most kinds lay their eggs in fresh water, but some live in salty water.
4
Scientists study its genes closely to find new ways to stop malaria.
you asked
Most asked questions about African malaria mosquito
?Where does the African malaria mosquito live?
In Africa south of the Sahara, close to water where its babies grow.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Anopheles gambiae
- Named by
- Giles, 1902
- Group
- Flies and mosquitoes
- Family
- Culicidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Diptera > Culicidae
- Lives on
- Africa
Where the facts come from
- Anopheles gambiae (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by James D. Gathany. Public domain, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.
If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.
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