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Animal profile

African malaria mosquito

Anopheles gambiae

InsectaSunlit temporary pools, hoofprints, borrow pits and rice fields near human settlement

Field profile

Anopheles gambiae is a slender mosquito that rests with its body angled away from the surface rather than parallel to it. It breeds in small, sunlit, temporary water bodies and feeds strongly on humans. It is among the most efficient vectors of human malaria known.

Scope note

This is an editorial profile, not a diagnostic field-identification guide or a substitute for current conservation assessments. Follow the cited sources on each fact for the evidence trail.

Published field notes

2024-09-24

African malaria mosquito

The main malaria mosquito is several species at once

Anopheles gambiae was described as one mosquito and is now understood as a complex of closely related species that cannot be told apart reliably by eye. They differ in where they breed, whom they bite and how well they transmit malaria.

Read with evidence →

African malaria mosquito | Daily Animal Facts