Insect Models
Julia Stoess, designer

Distribution and habitat

Anopheles gambiae is distributed in tropical and sub-tropical regions and propagates in ponds and puddles, as well as in hollow tree trunks filled with water.

Way of life and characteristic features

These mosquitos are 4.5 to 6.5 mm in size and are active at twilight. Only the females suck blood at night from birds, mammals and humans.
Because they are carriers of malaria, they are the most dangerous creatures on the planet.

Malaria is one of the world's principal infectious diseases. Every year up to 500 million new people catch it and up to 3 million people die of it.
Anopheles carries its abdomen away from the ground when resting. Its proboscis and body form a line and the last pair of legs is extended upwards.
That differentiates it from all other species of mosquito which always hold their abdomens pointing towards the ground when resting.