Practical 6 Slide Observation of Order Siphontera And Acarina Title: Slide Ctenocephalides Spp. And Ixodes

Practical 6

Slide Observation of Order Siphontera And Acarina

Title: Slide Ctenocephalides Spp. And Ixodes

Introduction

Ixodes is a genus of hard-bodied ticks (family Ixodidae). It includes important disease vectors of animals and humans (tick-borne disease). Some ticks in this genus may transmit the pathogenic bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi responsible for causing Lyme disease. Additional organisms that may be transmitted by Ixodes are parasites from the genus Babesia which cause babesiosis, and bacteria from the related genera Ehrlichia which cause ehrlichiosis and Anaplasma which cause anaplasmosis.

Flea is the common name for insects of the order Siphonaptera which are wingless insects with mouthparts adapted for piercing skin and sucking blood. Fleas are external parasites, living by hematophagy off the blood of mammals (including bats and humans) and birds.

Objectives

To identify the external morphology that differentiate between the genus (genal comb,meral rod and pronotal comb)

Methodology

Slide observation of the ctenocephalides spp and ixodase

Discussion

Fleas are small, agile, usually dark colored, wingless insects with tube-like mouth-parts adapted to feeding on the blood of their hosts. Their legs are long, the hind pair well adapted for jumping: a flea can jump vertically up to 7 inches (18 cm) and horizontally up to 13 inches (33 cm)..It has been known that fleas do not use muscle power but energy stored in a protein named resilin. Their bodies are laterally compressed (human anatomical terms), permitting easy movement through the hairs or feathers on the host's body (or in the case of humans, under clothing).

The flea body is hard, polished, and covered with many hairs and short spines directed backward^, which also assist its movements on the host. The glossy surface of the body allows easy movement through hair and feathers .The tough body is able to withstand great pressure, likely an adaptation to survive attempts to eliminate them by mashing or scratching.

Fleas lay tiny white oval-shaped eggs better viewed through a loupe. The larva is small, pale, has bristles covering its worm-like body, lacks eyes, and has mouthparts adapted to chewing. The larvae feed on various organic matters, especially the feces of mature fleas. The adult flea's diet consists solely of fresh blood    in the pupal phase; the larva is enclosed in a silken, debris-covered cocoon. Compound eyes are absent, but some species have large or small simple eyes.

The head of Ctenocephalides sp is rounded on its upper and anterior surface. Ctenocephalide canis, the dog flea, has a sharp curve here; Ctenocephalides felis felis, the cat flea, has a shallow curve. Ctenocephalides canis usually has three or four setae on the metepisternum; the others species usually have only one or two.

Fleas (order Siphonaptera) are one of the major groups of blood-sucking insects. They belong to holometabolic insects. Holometabolism is a feature characteristic also of Diptera, Lepidoptera, etc. Fleas form a separate well differentiated order,

Adult fleas are obligatory hematophages parasitising warm-blooded animals - mammals and birds. Wormlike free-living legless flea larva develops in the litter of host's nest. The majority of fleas are periodically attacking burrow or nest-dwelling parasites, capable of long time to present in host’s fur, unlike free blood-suckers, such as, for example, Diptera or some bugs.

Acari (or Acarina) are a taxon of arachnids that contains mites and ticks.Most acarines are small .Mites are arachnids and, as such, should have a segmented body with the segments organised into two tagmata: a prosoma (cephalothorax) and an opisthosoma (abdomen). This anterior body region is called the capitulum. The remainder of the body is called the idiosoma and is unique to mites.

Most adult mites have four pairs of legs, like other arachnids, but some have fewer.Larval and prelarval stages have a maximum of three pairs of legs; adult mites with only three pairs of legs may be called 'larviform'.

The mouth parts of mites may be adapted for biting, stinging, sawing or sucking. They breathe through tracheae, stigmata (small openings of the skin), intestines and the skin itself. Species hunting for other mites have very acute senses, but many mites are eyeless. The central eyes of arachnids are always missing, or they are fused into a single eye. Thus, any eye number from none to five may occur.

Conclusion

The morphology of the ctenocephalides and ixodase are different between each other and the observation of it were observed

References

http://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/urban/medical/deer_tick.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ixodes_scapularis

Question

1.    State the species name of human flea.

Pulex irritans

2.    What is the possible disease that can be transmitted by Ixodes.

Lyme disease, babesiosis and anaplasmosis.

3.    Classify the types of life cycle of Ctenocephalides and Ixodes

Ixodase -Hemimetabolism

Ctenocephalides-holometabolous

Practical 5 SLIDE PREPARATION OF MOSQUITO LARVAL – MALAYSIAN SPECIES Title: Mosquito larva collection, identification and processing.

Practical 5

SLIDE PREPARATION OF MOSQUITO LARVAL – MALAYSIAN SPECIES

Title: Mosquito larva collection, identification and processing.

Introduction

There are many type of the mosquito that exist on the world, the common infect human and give diseases are the aedes ,culex mansoni,and anopheles. Mosquitoes go through four stages in their life-cycle: egg, larva, pupa, and adult. Adult females lay their eggs in standing water, which can be a salt-marsh, a lake, a puddle, a natural reservoir on a plant, or an artificial water container such as a plastic bucket. The first three stages are aquatic and last 5–14 days, depending on the species and the ambient temperature; eggs hatch to become larvae, then pupae. The adult mosquito emerges from the pupa as it floats at the water surface. Adults live for 4–8 weeks. Male eat nectar and female feed blood.

Objective:

1.    To understand the purpose and method of larva processing.

2.    To identify the function of each reagent.

3.    To identify the processing procedure.

4.    To identify the morphology of mosquito larva.

5.    To differentiate morphology of Anophelinae and Culicinae larva.

Materials:

Water bath (37^oc), acid acetic 10%, Kalium hydroxide 2%, alcohol solution (30%, 50%, 70%, 90% and 100%), xylene, clove oil, mounting DPX, stereozoom microscope, needle, glass slide, section lifter, dissecting pin, cavity block.

Procedure:

1.    Mosquito larva was collected from various water sources.

2.    The mosquito larva collected was killed in waterbath (37^oc).

3.    The thorax of the larva was penetrated using fine needle.

4.    The larva was place in 2% KOH and left it to room temperature until the larva become clear (2-4 hours).

5.    The larva was rinsed two times with distilled water and immersed in 10% acid acetic for 30 minutes.

6.    The preservation method was performed as the following:

a)    The sample was immersed in 70% alcohol to kill the insect.

b)    Soaked in KOH for at least 30 minutes.

c)    Rinsed with distilled water.

d)    Dipped in the following alcohol for 30 minutes each; 30%, 50%, 70%, 90%, 100%, 100%

e)    Next, in clove oil and finally in Xylene.

f)     After that, the larva was placed on slide and DPX was dropped.

g)    The cover slip was used to cover.

7.    The slide was observed under microscope.

8.    The observation was recorded and identified the family of mosquito larva observed.

Discussion

In the preparation of the larva slide the larva that has been taken will be immersed in certain alcohol for some purpose, it were used to as the preservative to the larva. The alcohol used are  30%, 50%, 70%, 90%, 100%, 100% alcohol.it also make the larva are death ,by doing the preservation it can make the larva can be maintain it shape for long time.it also make the larva are not effect by the mold or dust that damaged the slide for the observation,it also make the larva can be maintain it shape without damaged the shape morphology,if we use the big insect we will insert some cotton inside it body to maintain it shape.the changes of the concentration are to ensure the enzyme inside the larva removed also the other substances.it also the factor to maintain the structure of the larva for long period.

The female aedes mosquito bites as it needs the protein in blood to develop its eggs.The mosquito becomes infective approximately 7 days after it has bitten a person carrying the virus. This is the extrinsic incubation period, during which time the virus replicates in the mosquito and reaches the salivary glands.Peak biting is at dawn and dusk.the average lifespan of an Aedes mosquito in Nature is 2 weeks.The mosquito can lay eggs about 3 times in its lifetime, and about 100 eggs are produced each time.The eggs can lie dormant in dry conditions for up to about 9 months, after which they can hatch if exposed to favourable conditions, i.e. water and food.the identification of the aedes are know by the leg that it have that is the striated the black and white. Aedes aegypti is a vector for transmitting several tropical fevers. Only the female bites for blood which she needs to mature her eggs. Understanding how the mosquito detects its host is a crucial step in the spread of the disease. Aedes aegypti are attracted to chemical compounds that are emitted by mammals. These compounds include ammonia, carbon dioxide, lactic acid, and octenol. 

The culex Eggs of these mosquitoes, typically for culicines, are laid singly or in rafts and although they may stick to the surface, they may sink if the water is disturbed. Culex prefers water contaminated with organic matter for the development of the larvae and in will grow well in septic tanks.Disease is spread by females. Males do not bite. The females take blood meals that are used to support the development of eggs. Culex is described as zoophagic because it takes its meals from animals as well as humans and can also be described as ornithophagic because it frequently feeds on birds. Any disease that is carried by Culex can therefore become difficult to eradicate because any animal community that it feeds on can become a reservoir and mobile species, such as birds, can spread the disease through a large area. This was seen in 1999 in the Eastern United States when West Nile virus was introduced into the area. Culex pipiens feeds at night.Feeding is described as endophagic because the mosquito prefers to feed in and around structures and the mosquito then rests in cool damp spots within structures while the meal is digested (endophilic behavior). A blood meal takes 2-7 days to digest and 1-3 meals are needed to complete development of clutch of eggs. Transmission comes from repeated biting when the mosquito injects saliva that acts as an anticoagulant.

The mansonia  is A genus of brown or black medium-sized mosquitoes ,often with banded abdomen and legs; larvae and pupae have modified breathing tubes enabling them to pierce aquatic plants to obtain air. Mansonia mosquitoes are distributed worldwide and, in tropical areas, are important vectors of Brugia malayi; in some areas they also transmit Wuchereria bancrofti. Adults of Mansonia are generally large mosquitoes characterised by the presence of broad, asymmetrical scales on the wing veins. There is often a mixture of dark and pale scales that imparts a speckled appearance to the wings.Mansonia resemble some species of Culex, Aedini and Coquillettidia, but the tarsal claws are simple, the abdomen is truncate in females (distinctions from aedine genera),  The larvae of Mansonia resemble those of Coquillettidia in having the spiracular apparatus and siphon distinctively modified for piercing plant tissues. They differ from Coquillettidia in having the distal part of the antenna fused with and much shorter than the basal part.

The Anopheles mosquitoes can be distinguished from other mosquitoes by the palps, which are as long as the proboscis, and by the presence of discrete blocks of black and white scales on the wings. Adult Anopheles can also be identified by their typical resting position: males and females rest with their abdomens sticking up in the air rather than parallel to the surface on which they are resting. The abdomen is specialized for food digestion and egg development. This segmented body part expands considerably when a female takes a blood meal. The blood is digested over time serving as a source of protein for the production of eggs, which gradually fill the abdomen. The duration from egg to adult varies considerably among species and is strongly influenced by ambient temperature. Mosquitoes can develop from egg to adult in as little as 5 days but usually take 10–14 days in tropical conditions.

Like all mosquitoes, adult Anopheles have slender bodies with 3 sections: head, thorax and abdomen.The head is specialized for acquiring sensory information and for feeding. The head contains the eyes and a pair of long, many-segmented antennae. The antennae are important for detecting host odors as well as odors of breeding sites where females lay eggs. The head also has an elongated, forward-projecting proboscis used for feeding, and two sensory palps.

Most Anopheles mosquitoes are crepuscular (active at dusk or dawn) or nocturnal (active at night). Some Anopheles mosquitoes feed indoors (endophagic) while others feed outdoors (exophagic). After feeding, some blood mosquitoes prefer to rest indoors (endophilic) while others prefer to rest outdoors (exophilic), though this can differ regionally based on local vector ecotype, and vector chromosomal makeup, as well as housing type and local microclimatic conditions. Biting by nocturnal, endophagic Anopheles mosquitoes can be markedly reduced through the use of insecticide-treated bed nets (ITNs) or through improved housing construction to prevent mosquito entry (e.g. window screens). Endophilic mosquitoes are readily controlled by indoor spraying of residual insecticides. In contrast, exophagic/exophilic vectors are best controlled through source reduction (destruction of the breeding sites).

The female mosquito lays 30-150 eggs every 2-3 days. Human blood is needed to nourish these eggs and Anopheles shows the most regular cycles of blood feeding and egg laying. As a corollary, by using personal protective measures against mosquito bites, like using mosquito nets, one can deny the blood meal and hence help in mosquito control.

Conclusions

The larva preservation and the making slide of it were made and the morphology of the larva was observed and drew.

Question

Describe the function of the following solution

Potassium hydroxide-it makes the larva flatted and maintains the appearances

Clove oil-it act as the anesthetic

References

·         http://mosquito-taxonomic-inventory.info/genus-emmansoniaem-blanchard-1901

·         http://www.righthealth.com/topic/anopheles/Guides-and-Articles

Practical 4 SLIDE OBSERVATION OF TABANIDAE, ARACHNID, LEPIDOPTERA AND MUSCIDAE Title: Observation of Tabanidae, Arachnid, Lepidoptera and Muscidae

Practical 4

SLIDE OBSERVATION OF TABANIDAE, ARACHNID, LEPIDOPTERA AND MUSCIDAE

Title: Observation of Tabanidae, Arachnid, Lepidoptera and Muscidae

Introduction

Insect have many type and classes it because the classification of the insect are according to their morphology, in the parasitological the insect are studies to know the relationship between them to the diseases that can affect the human life .for this lab the identification of the tabnidae family that know as the horse fly, the aranchide family famous know as the side ,the family lepidoptera know as the butterfly,and the muscidae that is the house fly ,this insect are well know on the daily life because we can see it everywhere. This identification of this insect can be a good knowledge to know what the cause for certain diseases that occur on the human.

Objective:

To identify the morphology of Tabanidae, Arachnid, Lepidoptera and Muscidae.

Procedure:

Observed the slide of Tabanidae, Arachnid, Lepidoptera and Muscidae.

Discussion

The insect that observed were very different between each other, it has their own function that allow the insect to perform may task that used in their life. some of them is special between each other .the slide were observed either their head or the it full morphology ,it important to know the morphology because it were the part of the insect that may affect human diseases.

The on the early time were divided into two group based on the presences or absences of hind tibial sprus. There are more than twenty species of horse flies and the deer flies. The female flies are more deadly than male because it puncture into the blood and suck it, this is the tabanidae or commonly known as the horse fly. It feed on the blood and it can carry or transmitted the blood diseases to human. the female must lay egg by the feeding on the human blood to produce the ova, the male flies eat the nectar, the female bite leaves the triangular hole in the skin and can cause a large swelling. Unlike the mosquito, they make a much lower pitched humming noise when they fly. The redeeming characteristic is their amazing eyes, which feature bands of brilliant colors. The maggot looks like larvae of horse live in mud, feeding on decaying vegetable matter or small creature

The butterfly is known as the Lepidoptera that means the scale wing and covered with microscope scale that is iridescent and brightly colored,it visible as the fuzz along the edge of the wing ,the primitive lepidopterans retain functional chewing mouthpart as the adult, it more divided ones have partially or completely lost the mandible and develop long proboscis for drinking nectar from flower. It undergoes complete metamorphosis from the egg, larva, adult. the butterfly are sensitive to abrupt movement and moving shadow, that means the very slowly movement that getting closer make the more alert. We are fascinated with their wing that make we are attract to it. Some butterflies have evolved symbiotic and parasitic relationships with social insects such as ants. Some species are pests because in their larval stages they can damage domestic crops or trees; however, some species are agents of pollination of some plants, and caterpillars of a few butterflies (e.g., Harvesters) eat harmful insects. Culturally, butterflies are a popular motif in the visual and literary arts. Butterfly proboscises are slender, tubular feeding structures. Culminating in a sharp, beak-like tip, the proboscis works like a straw through which a butterfly drinks its food. When a butterfly finds food, it first unfurls its mouthparts and then zips them together to form a channel. The proboscis is particularly well adapted for reaching into flowers for nectar and for piercing fruit with its sharp tip. When a butterfly is not feeding, it keeps its proboscis curled between its palpi (which are a pair of organs located on the front of an adult butterfly face). The proboscis consists of a pair of interlocking channels that when linked together form a tube, much like a drinking straw. This tube can be coiled up like a spring for storage, or extended to enable the butterfly to reach into flowers to suck up the liquids on which they feed. If the proboscis gets clogged with sticky fluids, the 2 sections can be uncoupled and cleaned.Olfactory sensors near the tip of the proboscis, and in the food canal, together with similar sensors on the tarsus and tibia of the legs, enable butterflies to "taste" nectar, pollen, dung, and minerals.

Spider morphology are have 8 legs that not same size on each other. Anatomically, spiders differ from other arthropods in that the usual body segments are fused into two tagmata, the cephalothorax andabdomen, and joined by a small, cylindrical pedicel. Unlike insects, spiders do not have antennae. In all except the most primitive group, the Mesothelae, spiders have the most centralized nervous systems of all arthropods, as all their ganglia are fused into one mass in the cephalothorax. Their abdomens bear appendages that have been modified into spinnerets that extrude silk from up to six types of silk glands within their abdomen. Spider webs vary widely in size, shape and the amount of sticky thread used. It now appears that the spiral orb web may be one of the earliest forms, and spiders that produce tangled cobwebs are more abundant and diverse than orb-web spiders. Spider-like arachnids with silk-producing spigots appear in the Devonian period about 386 million years ago, but these animals apparently lacked spinnerets. True spiders have been found in Carboniferous rocks from 318 to 299 million years ago, and are very similar to the most primitive surviving order, the Mesothelae. The main groups of modern spiders, Mygalomorphae and Araneomorphae, first appear in the Triassic period, before 200 million years ago. it have many species that have many type of morphology either small or big. the web are the strongest strain on the wotlrd it can hold heavy weight on the web.

The common house fly is a common flying insect that is found throughout the world. Like all insects, the house fly has a body divided into three parts (head, thorax, and abdomen), a hard exoskeleton, and six jointed legs. Flies also have a pair of transparent wings. The house fly can taste using its feet and with its mouthparts. Adults are about 1/4 to 1/2 inch (6 - 12.5 mm) long with 13 - 15 mm wingspan. House flies are dark gray, with four dark stripes down the top of the thorax. They have sponging mouthparts (they cannot bite); house flies can only eat liquids, but they can liquefy many solid foods with their saliva. The complete life-cycle of a house fly takes from 10 to 21 days. On the average, 12 generations of house flies can be produced in one year. Adult females lay 120-150 tiny white eggs, usually in manure or other warm, moist, decaying organic matter. A female lives for about 2 1/2 months and can lay up to 1,000 eggs in her short life. The eggs are only about 0.04 inch (1 mm) long and hatch into white, worm-like maggots in about 12 hours. The maggots grow to be about 1/2 inch (12.5 mm) long. When they are this big, they burrow into the ground to pupate. An adult will emerge in about 5 to 6 days (in warm weather) or about a month (in cold weather).The House Fly is often a carrier of diseases, such as typhoid fever, cholera, dysentery, and anthrax. The fly transmits diseases by carrying disease organisms onto food. It picks up disease organisms on its leg hairs or eats them and then regurgitates them onto food (in the process of liquefying solid food).

Conclusion

The insect that have identify were very different from one and each other the morphology give them many type of mechanism to transmitted the diseases

Questions:

1.    Name a species of fly under the family of Muscidae which has similar characteristics with house fly.

a.    Muscina stabulans

                                                                                                                         

2.    Give four (4) differences between house fly and the species you mentioned in question 1

a.    breed in manure and defecate on food,  

b.    they may be used to estimate the time of death

c.    bigger size than house fly

d.    the leg are all black

References

·         http://www.diptera.info/forum/viewthread.php?thread_id=4537&pid=20212

·         http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1519-566X2010000300020