Medical Entomology

MEDICAL ENTOMOLOGY
ARTHROPODS OF MEDICAL
IMPORTANCE
The word arthropoda derived from the Greek words "arthro:
joint, and podas: a foot, because all members have jointed limbs.
• The phylum Arthropods has (5) groups or classes of medically important organisms.
1. Crustacaea: has such forms as crayfish, crabs, or copedods which serve as intermediate
hosts for Paragonimus, Diphyllobothrium,.
2. Chilopoda: contains centipedes and millipedes, which may cause minor discomfort by their
bites or stings and relatively unimportant class.
• 3. Arachnida: includes spiders and scorpions as well as ticks and mites. The bites or stings
of scorpions and spiders can cause serious or fatal consequences, especially in small children.
Tick and mites transmit a large number of bacterial and rickettsial diseases.
• 4. Insecta: is the most important class and includes mosquitoes which transmit malaria,
filariasis, yellow fever, dengue, encephalitis and other diseases. Lice transmit epidemic typhus. A
variety of flies are important vectors of several protozoan and filarial diseases. Other insects
such as bees, wasps and ants may inflict painful bites or stings, which on occasion may cause
death in the allergic individual.
• 5. Pentastomida: they are small group of arthropods, blood-sucking pendoparasites of
mammals, birds, reptiles and fishes, e.g. tongue worm that has vermiform annulated body with
loss of all appendages and covered with chitin. The adults live in the pulmonary tracts and the
larvae and nymphs live in the alimentary tract, viscera and body cavities of their hosts including
man.
• Class Arachnida
• Members of this class present diverse sizes and appearances. However,
the adult stages always have four pairs of legs. Spiders, ticks and mites
are common examples of this class that are of some importance.
• Spiders:
• Although all spiders can inject venom only the black widow and the
brown spider are of medical importance.
Black widow spider.

Brown spider.
• B. Ticks:
• Ticks may transmit bacterial, viral, rickettsial, or protozoan
diseases (T. cruzi).
. Ticks are classified as hard ticks (head or capitulum can be seen
from dorsal view) or soft ticks (head or capitulum cannot be
seen from dorsal view). On occasion, hard ticks may induce
paralysis, which can be relieved only by removing the tick.
Hard tick & soft tick

• C. Mites
Mites of medical importance are mainly those able to
produce some type of skin disease. The most
important are: Sarcoptes scabiei
Sarcoptes scabiei •
• Class Insecta
All members of the class Insecta have three pairs of legs, a
head, thorax, and segmented abdomen. Most insects have wings
but a few, such as lice and fleas, lack them.
• Effective control of disease caused by arthropods depends

upon control of the arthropod. Arthropods may be controlled
by
destroying habitat that favors breeding, by use of
insecticides, by
use of screens and repellants. Effective control measures
demand
a thorough knowledge of the arthropod's life cycle and habits.
• They are of various forms, the numerous species farout
numbering those of all other animals" they play an important role in
our life economically and medically. The body is divided into 3
regions: head, thorax and abdomen; they have one or two pairs of
wings but few are wingless. All are characterized by having a pair
of jointed legs and that is the reason why are often called
Hexapoda.
• They include mosquitoes, flies, lice, fleas, bugs, wasps, bees, ants, etc. They
act as venomous, biological or mechanical vectors and intermediate hosts or
parasites on or in their hosts including man. Adult members of this class possess
three pairs of legs. They may or may not have wings. Those without wings (ticks and
mites) and those with wings (mosquitoes and other flies).
• A. Fleas:
Correct identification of precise flea species often requires an entomology
specialist. However, they are readily recognized as fleas by
1. Lack of wings.
2. Body profile flattened laterally.
3. Presence of sucking mouthparts.
• Disease agents that fleas transmit to man include Pasteurella pestis, and
Rickettsia typhi. Fleas also serve as intermediate hosts for D. caninum and H.
diminuta.
• Xenopsylla cheopis:* The rat flea ,is a vector of the plague bacillus.
.
• B. True Bugs
• Members of this group have sucking mouthparts.
The two bedbugs that , commonly attack man are C. hempiterns (tropical-
rural) and C. lectnlorius (Temperate zone- urban): both lives in human dwellings and
feeds on man. Bedbug bites cuase annoyance and skin reactions but do not transmit
diseases under natural conditions.
• The cone -nose bug:

• The cone-nose bugs are variously called assassin bugs, kissing bugs, triatomes,
reduviids, etc. The designation cone-nose refers to the small pointed head; the term
kissing bug, because of its habit of biting individuals on the face, particularly around the
lips. It is likely that the part of body which is exposed during sleep becomes the
preferential bite site.
• The cone-nose defecates while feeding and the protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi,
may be transferred to a new host when the bloody fluid feces containing the infective
trypanosomes are rubbed or scratched into the wound.
Kissing bug.
• C. Lice (pediculosis):
Lice are usually quite host specific. Consequently human

lousiness is dependent upon transfer from one person to other
persons. If man gets non- human lice on himself, it is a very
transient and unimportant condition. As a group, lice are wingless,
flattened dorso-ventrally, and have hooks or claws on their feet.
• Study the following demonstrations of two different types of
lice, which are important infesting man.
• Pediculus humanus.
There are two varieties of this lice; one (capitis) lives in the
head and the other (corporis) on the body (and clothes). They are
important because they can transmit typhus fever, relapsing fever,
and trench fever.
• D. Diptera
• From a medical viewpoint, the Diptera (tow wings) are the most
important order of insects. This group is important both from the
standpoint of being causal agents of disease (annoying bites, larval forms
burrowing into the skin, etc.), and as vectors of disease (malaria,
filariasis, yellow fever, leishmaniasis, etc.).
• The following important groups of diptera that transmit human
pathogens.
• Glossina spp.
The group is important as vectors of both human and animal trypanosomes
in Africa. (T. rhodesiense, and T. gambiense.) Commonly they are called
the tsetse fly.
• It is yellow, brown to black, narrow bodied fly of 6-13 mm long. Has
onion-shaped proboscis, horizontal at rest, adapted for piercing and
sucking blood.
• Glossina.
• Phlebotomus:
• Several species are important as vectors of Leishmania species all over
the world. They can also transmit virus (Sand fly fever) and bacteria. They are
small 3mm, long, much hairy (moth like) flies. Have insect legs but very long.
Phlebotomus.
• Simulium:
Important both in the New World and Africa as vectors of
Onchocerca. Simmlium spp. (black fly), they are small, robust, and
hump backed. Short mouth parts are adapted to a blood sucking habit
only in the female.
black fly
• Anopheles mosquitoes
Transmit plasmodia the causative agent of human and animal malaria.
Also several type of encephalitis, and filarial worms (W.bancrofti and
Brugia).
Anopheles mosquitoes •
• Aedes.
This genus is better known as the vector of yellow fever and dengue.
The species A. aegypti is very important in the New World as a yellow
fever vector.
• A. aegypti
• MYIASIS:
• It is defined as the invasion of organs and tissue of man or animal by fly larvae (dipterous).
They may feed upon the living, necrotic, dead tissues or ingested food as in the case of
intestinal myiasis.
• Myiasis may be obligatory (the fly larvae live on a live host, part of their life cycle).
However, in facultative myaisis larvae are normally free living, after attacking, but under certain
condition they may invade living hosts.
• The majority of the species that responsible for myiasis in human belongs to the three
major genera, these are: Oestrus, Dermatobia and Gasterophilus.
• Types of human myiasis which are based on their affects on different parts, organs or
tissue of the body.
• *Dermal or cutaneous myasis, *Nasopharangeal myasis, *Auricular myasis, *Opthalmic

myasis, *Intestinal myasis, *Urogenital myasis and *Wound myasis
• As would be expected, most cases occur in persons living in environments where flies are
abundant and poor personal hygiene and sanitation.
•

Medical Entomology

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MEDICAL ENTOMOLOGY

Black widow spider.

Hard tick & soft tick

• Effective control of disease caused by arthropods depends

• The cone -nose bug:

Lice are usually quite host specific. Consequently human

• Dermal or cutaneous myasis, Nasopharangeal myasis, Auricular myasis, Opthalmic

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