anopheles

American  

[uh-nof-uh-leez] / əˈnɒf əˌliz /

noun

plural

anopheles

1. any mosquito of the genus Anopheles, certain species of which are vectors of the parasite causing malaria in humans, distinguished from other mosquitoes by the absence of breathing tubes in the larvae and by the head-downward stance of the adult while resting or feeding.

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anopheles British  

/ əˈnɒfɪˌliːz /

noun

1. any of various mosquitoes constituting the genus Anopheles, some species of which transmit the malaria parasite to man

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Other Word Forms

• anopheline
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of anopheles

1895–1900; < New Latin < Greek anōphelḗs useless, hurtful, harmful, equivalent to an- an- ¹ + -ōpheles- variant stem of óphelos profit; earlier ( a ) n- (with vowel lengthening) + opheles-, written in Mycenaean Greek as nopere

Example Sentences

Malaria, a parasitic disease spread by Anopheles mosquitoes, has long been one of the world's top killers.

From Science Daily • Dec. 4, 2024

Anopheles mosquitoes grow into adults more quickly in warmer weather, and longer warm seasons allow them to breed faster and stay active longer.

From Salon • Jun. 3, 2024

Unlike the sterile male Anopheles colluzzi mosquitoes released in Burkina Faso in 2018, the friendly stephensi mosquitoes can still have offspring.

From BBC • May 23, 2024

Malaria is a mosquito-borne disease caused by a parasite that spreads from bites of infected female Anopheles mosquitoes.

From Science Daily • Apr. 24, 2024

Because Anopheles mosquitoes have slightly different breeding areas from Aedes aegypti, there were still hundreds of cases of malaria.

From "An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793" by Jim Murphy