Malaria: Mosquito Host | HHMI BioInteractive Video

What Do Mosquitoes Prefer to Eat?

Feeding Habits of Mosquitoes

• Mosquitoes primarily consume nectar, fruit juices, and honeydew, indicating a vegetarian diet.

• Only pregnant mosquitoes bite humans to obtain blood, which provides essential nutrients for their developing eggs.

How Does Malaria Spread Through Mosquitoes?

Infection Process

• When a mosquito bites an infected human, it ingests malaria parasites present in the blood.

• The malaria parasite cannot survive in the mosquito's stomach and is digested along with the blood meal.

Development of Malaria Parasites

• Inside the human host, some parasites transform into dormant sexual cells; this process is crucial for reproduction.

• The warm human blood cooling in the mosquito triggers maturation of these cells into male and female forms.

Lifecycle of Malaria Parasites in Mosquitoes

Migration and Transformation

• The fertilized cell migrates to the outer lining of the mosquito's stomach and transforms into a cyst.

• Each cyst produces thousands of tiny parasites that target the mosquito's salivary glands for future transmission.

Transmission to Humans

• When this infected mosquito bites another human, it injects saliva containing malaria parasites, facilitating further infection.