THE TRANSMISSION OF MALARIA BY THE 
ANOPHELES MOSQUITOES OF 
NORTH AMERICA 
By JAMES STEVENS SIMMONS 
CHIEF, DIVISION OF PREVENTIVE MEDICINE, OFFICE OF THE SURGEON GENERAL, 
U. S. ARMY, WASHINGTON, D. C. 
In this chapter it is proposed to sum¬ 
marize briefly some of the available pub¬ 
lished information concerning the spread 
of human malaria by the various anophe- 
line mosquitoes indigenous to the northern 
half of the western hemisphere. At in¬ 
tervals during the past, similar reviews 
have been prepared by various individuals 
and the present summary represents an at¬ 
tempt to bring up to date information ob¬ 
tained from such sources. The anophelines 
are arranged in two main groups, those of 
the Nearctic Region, and those of the Neo¬ 
tropical Region. Each species will be con¬ 
sidered briefly from the viewpoint of its 
relation to malaria. The geographical dis¬ 
tribution, breeding and habits of each 
species are given in the references cited. 
Anopheline Mosquitoes of the 
Nearctic Region 
The species of genus anopheles consid¬ 
ered in this section are listed in Table I. 
TABLE I 
Subgenus 
Species 
Anopheles 
1. A. atropos Dyar & Knab 1906* 
“ 
2. A. crucians Wiedemann 1828* 
“ 
3. A. maculipennis Meigen 1818 
“ 
4. A. punctipennis Say 1823 
“ 
5. A. quadrimaculatus Say 1824 
“ 
6. A. walkeri Theobald 1901 
Coelodiazesis 
7. A. barberi Coquillett 1903 
* Also found in neotropical regions. 
1. Anopheles (Anopheles) atropos 
Dyar and Knab 1906 
a. Experimental infection. — P. vivax. 
Mayne and Griffitts (1931) reported com¬ 
parative experiments in which 85.7 per cent 
of the specimens of A. atropos fed on suit¬ 
able carriers of P. vivax became infective. 
There are no data for P. falciparum or P. 
malariae. 
1. Infection in nature. No data. 
c. Epidemiological. Beyer (1923) stated 
that A. atropos was suspected as a vector 
of malaria, but according to Coveil (1927) 
this suspicion was not supported by direct 
evidence. Hanson, Boyd and Griffitts 
(1935) remarked that, while A. atropos is 
susceptible, they regarded it as epidemio- 
logieally unimportant. Williams (1937a) 
stated that A. atropos is of no importance 
because it does not breed near man, being 
confined wholly to salt marsh areas of the 
Gulf and South Atlantic states. 
It has been shown that atropos engages 
in flights, enters dwellings at night and 
feeds on man; also that it is susceptible to 
infection with P. vivax. Its distribution is 
restricted by its breeding habits, thus ren¬ 
dering it relatively unimportant as a na¬ 
tional problem. However, this species must 
be considered of potential importance in 
situations where human dwellings are lo¬ 
cated within its flight range and it deserves 
further study. 
2. Anopheles (Anopheles) crucians 
Wiedemann-1828 
a. Experimental infection. — P. vivax. 
Mayne 1 (1916a) first reported the experi¬ 
mental infection of A. crucians with P. 
vivax. Other reports of tests with this 
species have been made by Root (1924b), 
King (1921) and Barber, Komp and Hayne 
(1927). 
P. falciparum. Mayne (1916a) also was 
i Earlier written ‘ ‘ Mitzmain. ’ ’ 
