Anopheles culicifacies species complex in Odisha

Malaria is still a major health problem in the world. The control strategy has been relies on effective control of the Anopheles vectors. Most of the Anophelines identified till today are found as complex of different sibling species. Among the Anophelines, An. culicifacies,a rural vector of malaria in India, has been identified with five sibling species. Failure to recognize these sibling species may result in failure to distinguish between the vectors and the non-vectors. Considering the bottleneck associated with the morphological identification of siblings, the book highlighted the use of molecular tools in the identification of sibling species complex of An. culicifacies. Along with the identification of species type, blood meal analysis of mosquito has been done to define their role in malaria transmission. In this direction, the book emphasizes the utility of multiplex PCR assay for simultaneous detection of human host DNA and presence of plasmodium sporozoites in the sibling species. Summing up the book could precisely be useful to the students and researchers in the field of medical entomology, molecular & vector biology, medical diagnostics and medical anthropology.