List of mosquitoes of Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka is a tropical island situated close to the southern tip of India. The invertebrate fauna is as large as it is common to other regions of the world. There are about 2 million species of arthropods found in the world, and more are still being discovered to this day. This makes it very complicated and difficult to summarize the exact number of species found within a certain region.

This is a list of the mosquitoes found from Sri Lanka.

Mosquito

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Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Diptera

Family: Culicidae

Mosquitoes are small midge-like insects that can be found in terrestrial ecosystems wherever water is abundant. Females of most species are ectoparasites, whose tube-like mouthparts (called a proboscis) pierce the hosts' skin to consume blood. Many species of mosquitoes are vectors of diseases, so important in medicine and other fields.[1] Well over 3,500 species of mosquitoes were found and described, and new species are about to discover.[2] Sri Lanka is home to 131 species of mosquitoes that included to 16 genera with 17 endemic species.[3][4]

Endemic species are highlighted with letter E.

Subfamily Culicinae

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References

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  1. ^ "(Diptera: Culicidae) of Sri Lanka" (PDF). University of Kelaniya. Retrieved 25 May 2016.[permanent dead link]
  2. ^ "Molecular studies of Anopheles culicifacies (Diptera: Culicidae) in Sri Lanka". University of Jaffna, Sri Lanka. Retrieved 25 May 2016.
  3. ^ Jayasekara, Nalini; Chelliah, Robert V. "An annotated checklist of mosquitoes of Sri Lanka" (PDF). National Science Council of Sri Lanka. thakshana.nsf.ac.lk. p. 16. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 June 2016. Retrieved 25 May 2016.
  4. ^ "Observation on the mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae) of Udawattakele forest, Sri Lanka". National Science Foundation of Sri Lanka. Amaresinghe, F.P. Retrieved 25 May 2016.