Editing Anopheles (section)

{{short description|Genus of mosquito}}
{{good article}}
{{cs1 config|name-list-style=vanc}}
{{automatic taxobox
| image = Anopheles stephensi.jpeg
| image_caption = ''[[Anopheles stephensi]]'', female
| taxon = Anopheles
| authority = [[Johann Wilhelm Meigen|Meigen]] 1818
| subdivision_ranks = Species
| subdivision = For a full description, see the main article: [[Taxonomy of Anopheles]]
}}

'''''Anopheles''''' ({{IPAc-en|ə|ˈ|n|ɒ|f|ᵻ|l|iː|z}}) is a [[genus]] of [[mosquito]] first described by the German [[entomologist]] [[Johann Wilhelm Meigen|J. W. Meigen]] in 1818, and are known as '''nail mosquitoes''' and '''marsh mosquitoes'''.<ref name="USFWS">{{cite web |title=Nail Mosquito |url=https://www.fws.gov/species/nail-mosquito-anopheles |publisher=[[United States Fish and Wildlife Service]] |access-date=16 December 2023 |quote=Common Name: Nail Mosquito, marsh mosquitoes}}</ref> Many such mosquitoes are [[Disease vector|vectors]] of the parasite ''[[Plasmodium]]'', a genus of protozoans that cause [[malaria]] in [[Plasmodium species infecting birds|birds]], [[Plasmodium species infecting reptiles|reptiles]], and [[Plasmodium species infecting mammals other than primates|mammals]], including humans. The ''[[Anopheles gambiae]]'' mosquito is the best-known species of marsh mosquito that transmits the ''[[Plasmodium falciparum]]'', which is a malarial [[Parasitism|parasite]] deadly to human beings; no other mosquito genus is a vector of human malaria.

The genus ''Anopheles'' diverged from other mosquitoes approximately {{Ma|100}} ([[myr|mya]]), and, like other mosquitoes, the eggs, [[larva]]e, and [[pupa]]e are [[Aquatic animal|aquatic]]. The ''Anopheles'' larva has no respiratory siphon through which to breathe, so it breathes and feeds with its body horizontal to the surface of the water. The adult mosquito hatches from the surface and feeds on the nectar of flowers; the female mosquito also feeds on blood, which animal diet allows them to carry and transmit parasites between hosts. The adult's feeding position is head-down, unlike the horizontal stance of the culicines. ''Anopheles'' are distributed almost worldwide, throughout the tropics, the subtropics, and the temperate regions of planet Earth. In hot weather, adult ''Anopheles'' [[aestivate]], which is a state of dormancy that enables the mosquito to survive in hot dry regions, such as the [[Sahel]].