African malaria mosquito

Anopheles gambiae

The African malaria mosquito is a small, thin mosquito with long legs. The females need blood to make their eggs.

Lives in

Africa south of the Sahara, near water where its babies grow

Top speed

about 2 km/h (1.2 mph)

Can it hurt you?

Dangerous: look, do not touch

What does it eat?

The females drink blood from people and also from animals like cattle, goats and sheep.

A tortoise about 0.3 km/h (0.19 mph)

African malaria mosquito about 2 km/h (1.2 mph)

A person walking about 5 km/h (3.1 mph)

A kid running fast about 13 km/h (8.1 mph)

cool stuff

Fun facts

What looks like one kind of mosquito is really a group of at least seven kinds that look exactly the same.

Scientists only found out it was a group of different kinds in the 1960s.

Most kinds lay their eggs in fresh water, but some live in salty water.

Scientists study its genes closely to find new ways to stop malaria.

you asked

?Where does the African malaria mosquito live?

In Africa south of the Sahara, close to water where its babies grow.

Anopheles gambiae (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
Picture by James D. Gathany. Public domain, Wikimedia Commons. The round sticker of this bug is cut from the same picture.

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