Key to the Identification of 54 species of Indian Anopheline mosquitoes

Objectives:

To develop an illustrated computer-based, interactive key and information system for the rapid identification of 54 species of Indian Anopheline mosquitoes.

Introduction:

Anophelines are the vectors for malarial disease and over the last 10 years the number of malarial cases has been increasing in many areas of the world. More than 2000 million people in some 100 countries now live in areas where there is a definite risk of malaria (Benzerragh, 1991). In 1998 the number of malarial cases was 1854830 and there has been a steady increase ever since reaching a staggering 2099154 cases in 1992 (NMEP directorate 1993). In India and developing countries, the problem has become all the more demanding with frequent out breaks of malaria and other mosquito carrying diseases.