ENTOMOLOGY

Christine Mokaya
 LEARNING OBJECTIVES

• At the end of this chapter the student is expected to:

a) Describe the general features of all arthropods.
b) Explain the medical importance of arthropods.
c) Identify the difference between mechanical and biological carriers.
d) List the different types of biological carriage.
e) Discuss the classification of arthropods.
f) List some of the most important vector control measures.
 Introduction
• Medical entomology is a science, which deals with the study of
arthropods.
• Members of the phylum Arthropoda are the most numerous and
widely distributed of all animal groups.
• Their medical importance lies in their ability to cause morbidity and
mortality, and their extensive distribution over the face of the earth.
• Many, particularly those within the class insecta and arachnida, live
in close association with humans; others while primarily parasites of
animals, will readily attack or feed upon humans and some may
specifically adapt as human parasites.
 Arthropods
• The arthropods include animals varying considerably in size and shape but have
fundamental features in common.
• Generally all arthropods have the following characteristics in common:
They are bilaterally symmetrical.
Their bodies are divided into a number of rings or segments.
They have jointed appendages, which may take the form of legs, antennae,
or mouthparts.
They have a hard chitinous exoskeleton (cuticle), which helps for the
protection and insertion of muscles.
 Arthropods
The exoskeleton is partitioned by chitinous plates (scleritis) in order to
allow movement. The dorsal and ventral sections, the tergum, and
sternum respectively are heavily chitinized. The lateral section, joining
the tergum and sternum (pleuron) is less heavily chitinized and thus
more flexible.
They have a body cavity called haemocele, which contains
haemolymph (blood and lymph) that bathes internal organs.
Ecdysis or moulting is a phenomenon characteristic of all arthropods
whereby the cuticle is shed at regular intervals in order to
accommodate the growing tissues.
 Arthropod Habitats
Depending upon species, arthropods live in various habitats. The following are
some of the factors that control habitats of arthropods: food, disease, breeding
media, climate, competition, natural enemies and etc.
The habitats of arthropod include;
a. Soil
b. Water
c. Ambient air
d. Man
e. Animal
f. Plants.
 Arthropod Habitats
1. The soil: Arthropods may be found on the surface of the soil or under
ground (in pebbles, in bolder, in caves, in the sand, in lime stone
formations, etc). Examples: ants, termites, beetles, spiders, wasps,
mites, scorpions, flies, crickets, cockroaches, moths, fleas, cicadas,
etc.
2. Water: Arthropods may live in fresh waters (natural or man made),
salty waters (Oceans, seas) or hot springs. Examples of water dwellers
are: backswimmers, crabs, lobsters, crayfish, etc.
 Arthropod Habitats
3. In the ambient air (temporary fliers): The ambient air although can
not be a permanent habitat, some arthropods specially the fliers can be
found temporarily.
The fliers are fast spreaders of contamination and pollutions.
 Flying is high civilization in the culture of arthropods (as well as man).
Speed is one of the factors for survival of the fittest. Therefore, it is
hard to control the fliers.
 Examples of fliers are: Bees, beetles, mosquitoes, flies, grasshoppers,
wasps, butterflies, moths, dragonflies, ants and termites (initially), etc.
 Arthropod Habitats
4. On man: Ectoparasites- these are dangerous groups to health since they
feed on human blood. These parasitic arthropods could be obligatory
ectoparasites (example louse) or intermittent (on and off: example ticks).
5. On animals: Examples lice, ticks, mites, fleas, mosquitoes, ox-warble fly,
etc.
6. On plants: Examples Beetles, aphids, spiders, gall insects, scale insects,
manna insects, lacs etc
 BIOLOGY OF ARTHOPODS
• Arthropods use the following systems for survival and perpetuation.
(a) Digestive system
• The alimentary canal comprises three distinct regions: the foregut or stomodium, the
midgut or mesenteron, and the hindgut or proctodaeum.
• Foregut - extends from the mouth to the proventriculus (muscular sac provided with
stony cuticular plates or teeth serving for grinding and mixing of food.)
• Mid gut - this is the stomach; physiologically the most active part of the alimentary
canal, being concerned with digestive function.
• Hind gut- consists of the ileum, colon, and rectum and finally opens to the anus.
 BIOLOGY OF ARTHOPODS cont’d
(b) Circulatory system
• The circulatory system of all arthropods is of the “open” type, i.e. the fluid that
circulates is not restricted to a network of conducting vessels as for example in
vertebrates, but flows freely among the body organs.
• A consequence of the open system is that insects have only one extra cellular
fluid, hemolymph, in contrast to vertebrates which have two such fluids, blood
and lymph. Through this system hemolymph is pumped from the heart to the
aorta then to the whole body.
• The circulatory system has no respiratory function.
 BIOLOGY OF ARTHOPODS cont’d
(c) Respiratory system
• In the vast majority of insects, respiration is by means of internal air tubes
known as trachea. These ramify through the organs of the body and its
appendages, the finest branches being termed tracheolea.
• The air generally enters the trachea through paired, usually lateral openings
termed spiracles, which are segmentally arranged along the thorax and
abdomen.
• Respiratory spiracles also serve as exit of air conducting branches from the
tracheal tube.
 BIOLOGY OF ARTHOPODS cont’d
(d) Nervous system
• The many diverse activities of the various systems of an insect are coordinated by
the nervous system.
• This system is composed of elongated cells, or neurons, which carry information
in the form of electrical impulses from internal and external sensory cells to
appropriate effectors.
• These consist of Nerve ganglia in the head, ventral part of the body, which later
extends to body parts.
 BIOLOGY OF ARTHOPODS cont’d
(e) Excretory System
• The function of the excretory system is to maintain hemostasis. i.e. maintaining the uniformity
of the hemolymph.
• It accomplishes this by the elimination of metabolic wastes and excesses, particularly
nitrogenous ones, and the regulation of salt and water.
• The Malpighian tubules are the major organs involved in filtration of the hemolymph. These
tubules lie freely in the body cavity (haemocele) and open to the junction between the mid gut
and the hindgut. After joining the digestive tract, waste fluids are excreted through the anus.
• The hindgut (specially the rectum) is involved in reabsorption of important ions and water.
 BIOLOGY OF ARTHOPODS cont’d
(f) Reproductive System
• Arthropods have separate sexes.
• Male contains testes, vas deference, seminal vesicle and ejaculatory duct, which
open by aedeagus (penis).
• The female contains two ovaries, oviduct, and uterus that opens to the vagina.
 DEVELOPMENT OF ARTHROPODS
• The development of arthropods, which is called metamorphosis, is from egg to adult. This
development could be:
a) Incomplete development from the egg to nymph, which looks like the adult
OR
b) Complete development, which extends from the egg to larva, pupa that later differentiate to
the adult arthropod.
 IMPORTANCE OF ARTHROPODS IN PARASITOLOGY
(a) Direct agents for disease /discomfort.
• The following effects may be seen by the direct effect of arthropods.
1. Annoyance – comes from disruptive activities of insects, such as flying
around or landing on the head, and from feeding, possibly causing blood loss,
though they don’t remove sufficient blood to cause a medical problem in
humans.
2. Entomophobia – is an irrational fear of insects. One extreme form of
entomophobia is delusory parasitosis, in which individuals become convinced
that they are infested with insects when no actual infestation exists. This may
cause undue alarm and anxiety, leading to unwarranted use of insecticides,
and in severe cases, requiring professional treatment.
 IMPORTANCE OF ARTHROPODS IN PARASITOLOGY

3. Envenomization – is the introduction of a poison into the body of

humans and animals. Arthropods may also inoculate poison to the host.
E.g. Scorpion
4. Allergic reactions – a hypersensitive response to insect proteins.
• All of the mechanisms associated with envenomization can also cause
exposure to allergens. In fact, human deaths from bee and wasp stings
usually are associated with a hypersensitive reaction rather than direct
effect of a toxin.
5. Dermatosis and dermatitis – dermatosis is a disease of the skin and
dermatitis is an inflammation of the skin. Both dermatosis and
dermatitis can be caused by arthropod activities. Many mite species,
such as scabies mites produce acute skin irritations.
 IMPORTANCE OF ARTHROPODS IN PARASITOLOGY
(b) Agents for disease transmission
• Arthropods can carry disease causative agents in the following two ways;
1. Mechanical carrier
• Here they lodge the disease causative agent without altering its development or multiplication
e.g. house fly
2. Biological carrier
• When arthropods become biological carriers for transmission of disease, it means that certain
stages in the life cycle of parasite takes place in the body of the insect. e.g. Anopheles
mosquitoes.
 IMPORTANCE OF ARTHROPODS IN PARASITOLOGY
• Biological carrier is any of the following types:
a) Propagative- where there is multiplication of the parasite with no
developmental change e.g. Yellow fever virus in Aedes mosquito.
b) Cyclopropagative – in this type both multiplication and developmental change
are going on. e.g. Plasmodium species in Anopheles mosquito
c) Cyclodevelopmental – here there is developmental change of the parasite but
no multiplication E.g. Wucherera bancrofiti in Culex mosquito
d) Transovarian- when the parasite passes to progeny arthropods through the ova
E.g. Ricketsia typhi in ticks
 IMPORTANCE OF ARTHROPODS IN PARASITOLOGY

C. The Beneficial Effects of Arthropods

• Fortunately, for mankind not all arthropods are harmful.
• Arthropods contribute to a lot of benefit on commercial products, agriculture and health. It is
therefore, necessary to distinguish between “beneficial” and “harmful” arthropods.
• The following are some understood benefits of arthropods:
1. One of the greatest benefits man receives through arthropods (insects) is the pollinization of
plants.
• Approximately 50 seed and fruit crops depend on honeybees for pollinization. Clover, onions,
apples and others would not yield without insect pollinators, butterflies, ants, flies and bees.
2. Silk is produced by insects.
• The caterpillar of the silk producing moth (Bombyx mori) spins a cocoon prior to changing to the
adult stage. The filament forming the cocoon is continuous and ranges in length from 800 – 1200
yards. An ounce of silkworm eggs will produce 30,000 - 35,000 caterpillars which will yield 100 -
200 pounds of cocoons. These cocoons will produce 10 -12 pounds of raw silk.
 IMPORTANCE OF ARTHROPODS IN
PARASITOLOGY
3. Honey and wax is the other product of insects (honey bees must collect 37,000
loads of nectar from plants in order to make one pound of honey).
4. Arthropods are very helpful in improving the soil. The burrowing of ants, beetles
and other insects enables air to penetrate the soil.
5. Lac insect (Kerria lacca) is a source of a commercial varnish.
6. Arthropods that prey upon and destroy other animals are called predators. They
help to reduce the number of insects. E.g. spiders, ants, dragon flies.
7. Some arthropods lay their eggs on the larva of other arthropods, the eggs hatch
and the young larvae feed up on the body juice of the host as a parasite.
8. Insects are valuable as food for humans and animals. Chickens, turkeys, hogs and
fish utilize many insects as an important source of their food. Some of the primitive
races of man use insects for food. E.g. grasshopper, cricket, beetle, caterpillar, termite
and ant.
 IMPORTANCE OF ARTHROPODS IN
PARASITOLOGY
9. More than other things insects have served man as sources for
scientific knowledge and technological innovations:
• Man has learned science of flight (planes, space crafts) from insects.
Insects have thought man flight techniques since they had this civilization
long before man.
• Learned carpentry wood - work such as tunneling from beetles.
• The science of navigation and communication, utilization of air
conditioning, use of photogenic light, use of chemicals as warfare, paper
production, pottery, engineering work, farming, etc.
So many technologies seem to have been copied from arthropod works.
CLASSIFICATION OF ARTHROPODS
 Vocabulary
• Abdomen- the posterior (farthest to the rear) section of an insect’s body.
• Antennae- little feelers on top of the insect’s head that help them receive
messages, sound and motion.
• Thorax- the middle section of an insect’s body.
• Invertebrate- animals that do not have a backbone. The exoskeleton is the
reason insects do not need a backbone.
• Exoskeleton- the hard shell-like covering on the outside of the body.
• Arthropods- any invertebrate animal with an exoskeleton and segmented
body, and jointed appendages in pairs.
 CLASSIFICATION OF ARTHROPODS
• There are three medically important classes of Arthropods:
1. Class Insecta
2. Class Arachnida
3. Class Crustacea
4. Class chilopoda
5. Class diplopoda
 Class Arachnida
(spiders, scorpions, ticks and mites)

• Almost all arachnids live on land and have

several adaptations to help them retain water.
• 2 body sections; cephalothorax and abdomen.
• Four pairs of walking legs.
• Chelicerae- fanglike mouthparts to paralyze
prey with poison.
• Pedipalps- (used in sensing and feeding).
• Malpighian tubules- remove wastes from
fluids in body cavity.
• Book lungs- specialized respiratory structures
and provide large surface for gas exchange,
some use trachea.
 Class Insecta
(insects)

• There are over 700,000 different species of insects that are known,
and still more are being discovered.
• All insects have an exoskeleton.
• They have three main body parts;
• Head
• Thorax
• Abdomen
• Insects also have a pair of antennae on the top of their heads.
• They have compound eyes, three pairs of legs and may have one to
two pairs of wings, but not all.
• Most adults have 2 pairs called forewings and hindwings.
• Some insects are wingless (silverfish, fleas, some termites and
ants).
• Diptera are only able to take fluid food, which in the case of
bloodsucking flies is obtained by injecting the piercing mouthparts
(proboscis) into living tissue.
• In other flies, food is liquidized externally by puddling it with
spongy mouth parts in digestive fluid regurgitated from the foregut
(crop).
 Respiration and circulation
• Insects don’t have lungs. They breath
passively through their spiracles (openings
in the side of their cuticle). Oxygen is
delivered directly via trachea(series of
smaller and smaller pipes) to the tissues
that need it.
• Since diffusion of gases is only effective over
small distances, insects are relatively small.
• Different patterns of gas exchange shown by
different types of insects; continuous
diffusive ventilation, discontinuous gas
exchange, some insects have gills (extract
oxygen dissolved in water).
 Class Insecta…

Complete metamorphosis Incomplete metamorphosis

• Changes from one completely • Insect goes through various stages
different form into another adult form. of molting and growing but remain
• Has various stages of larva and pupa basically the same.
before becoming an adult. • Young grows bigger and bigger but
• Pupa is an inactive stage in which a has same feeding habits and
cocoon forms and the insect physical appearance.
undergoes major physical and • Example: praying mantis, crickets,
chemical changes. grasshoppers.
• Examples: butterflies, moths, wasp,
bees, beetles etc.
 Defense
Insects defend themselves by;
Camouflage ex walking stick.
Stingers ex bee
Sounds
Mimicry (copying)
 Class Insecta includes many
insect orders
• Coleoptera- beetles • Orthoptera- crickets and
• Lepidoptera- butterflies and moths grasshoppers
• Diptera- flies and mosquitoes • Odonata- dragonflies and
damselflies.
• Hymnoptera-ants, bees, wasps
• Isoptera- termites
• Hemiptera- the true “bugs”
stinkbugs, water striders • Homoptera-cicadas, aphids.
 Class diplopoda
(millipedes)

• Are wormlike.
• Their body is rounded and the segments
are internally fused into twos.
• The antennae are short and there are no
poison claws.
• The reproductive organs open on anterior
end of the body close to the head.
• They generally feed on decaying plant
matter.
• Generally have two pairs of legs on each
body segment, are nonpoisonous, move
slowly and generally feed on soil, bacteria
and fungi.
 Class chilopoda
(centipedes)

• Chilopods are quick moving predators with

poison claws on the most anterior trunk • Sddffd
segment are used to paralyze prey and for
defense.
• Each trunk segment has one pair of walking
legs.
• Terrestrial in habitat, body is long, flattened and
multi-segmented.
• 1 pair of legs per body segment.
• 1 pair of antennae.
• 1st pair of legs modified into venomous “fangs”.
• Animals are unisexual.
• They are Carnivorous
 Class crustacea
(lobsters, crayfish, crabs, shrimp)

• Decapods-ten legs, pincers and walking legs.

• Are wingless.
• Most are marine, crayfish are freshwater and a few
land crabs exist in tropical areas.
• 2 body parts; cephalothorax and abdomen.
• Carapace- portion of the exoskeleton that cover
cephalothorax.
• Mandibles- bite and grind food.
• Gas exchange may take place across thin areas of the
cuticle (small forms) or by gills (large forms).
• Nitrogenous wastes are excreted by diffusion across
thin areas of the cuticle.
• Salt balance of the hemolymph is regulated by a pair
of specialized antennal or maxillary glands.
MEDICAL CONDITIONS RELATED TO ARTHROPODS
 MEDICAL CONDITIONS RELATED TO
ARTHROPODS
Infectious disease vectors:
• Many flies serve as either mechanical or biological vectors of infectious agents.
eg
Tsetsefly transmits the agent causing African sleeping sickness;
Biting midges transmit filarioid nematodes and viruses such as blue tongue
virus;
Tabanids transmit tularemia.
Sand Flies (Phlebotomus) vector leishmaniasis
Black Flies (Simulium) vector onchocerciasis
Horse Flies (Chrysops) vector african eye worm (Loa loa)
 MEDICAL CONDITIONS RELATED TO
ARTHROPODS
A. FLY RELATED CONDITIONS
• Myiasis is invasion of tissue of
humans and other vertebrate
animals with dipterous fly larva,
which for at least a period feed
upon the living, necrotic or dead
tissues of animals.
 Forms of myiasis

• Cutaneous
 Forms of myiasis…

• Furuncular
 Forms of myiasis…

• Wound myiasis
 Fly-related conditions
• Pathogens can be transmitted by three
possible ways:
a) By contaminated feet, body hairs and
• Housefly
mouthparts of flies. •
b) Flies frequently vomit on food during feeding
this can lead to infection.
c) Probably the most important method of
transmission is defecation, which often occurs
on food.
• Through the above mechanisms
houseflies transmit a number of
bacterial, viral, and protozoal diseases,
e.g. sand flies transmit leishmaniasis,
tsetse flies transmit trypanosomiasis.
 B. MOSQUITO RELATED CONDITIONS

• Mosquitoes cause a number of diseases in humans; They

vector malaria, filariases, and numerous viral diseases, such as
dengue, Japanese encephalitis and yellow fever.
Table showing some mosquito genera and agents they transmit
Mosquitoes Parasite
Anopheles mosquito Plasmodium, W. bancrofti, Dirofilaria
Culex mosquito W. bancrofti, Dirofilaria
Aedes mosquito W. bancrofti, Dirofilaria e.g. D. immitis (dog heart worm)

Mansonia mosquito W. bancrofti, Dirofilaria

• In countries with a temperate climate they are more important as

nuisance pests than as vectors.
 C. FLEA RELATED CONDITIONS

• Fleas are blood-sucking, ectoparasites of warm-blooded animals.

• Only a small proportion will attack humans.
• Genus Xenopsylla contains important vectors of plague (yersinia
pestis), and flea-borne endemic typhus (Rickettsia typhi).
• Some fleas such as ctenocephalides species are intermediate
hosts of cestodes (Dipylidium caninum),(Hymenolepis nana,
[Link]).
• Fleas may also be vectors of tularaemia (Francisella tularensis)
and the sand flea or jigger flea (tunga penetrans) enters in to
the feet of people
 C. FLEA RELATED CONDITIONS
• In tropical America and Africa the
most troublesome flea is Tunga
penetrance, which is about 1 mm in
length but after burrowing into the
skin, it may swell to 1 cm and cause
extreme irritation. Surgical removal
is required.
• Sometimes the condition may also
be complicated by secondary
bacterial infection.
 C. FLEA RELATED CONDITIONS

• Endemic typhus • Jigger flea

 MEDICAL CONDITIONS RELATED TO ARTHROPODS
• D. LICE RELATED CONDITIONS
• Lice are usually ectoparasites, and they can live in different part of the body.
• For example:
• Pediculus humanus capitis – head lice
• Pediculus humanus corporis – body lice
• Phitrius pubis – pubic /crab lice
• Lice are also responsible for transmission of diseases such as relapsing fever and
epidemic typhus.
 D. LICE RELATED CONDITIONS

• Body lice • Pubic lice

 E. BUG RELATED CONDITIONS

• Bugs find suitable hiding places in crevices in mud-brick walls and dark
places among boxes, firewood and other objects, behind pictures, in
beds and in palm thatched roofs.
• They are fluid feeders from herbivores and carnivores.
• They can be serious pests to humans causing severe itching and other
skin problems.
• They are also responsible for chronic anaemia through loss of blood.
• Other than being ectoparasites and a nuisance to humans, bugs like
Triatoma (Kissing bug) are a disease vector of Trypanosoma cruzi,
which is seen in some countries of Latin America.
 E. BUG RELATED CONDITIONS

• Triatoma (kissing bug)

 F. TICK RELATED CONDITIONS
• Ticks are in class Arachnida, order acarina and sub order Ixodida
• There are two important families
i. Argasidae (soft ticks)
ii. Ixodidae (hard ticks)---most significant group.
• Ticks cause mechanical injury to the skin.
• Some ticks produce toxins which affect release of acetyl choline, and
in turn produces ascending paralysis, also termed as “tick paralysis”
• Ticks also transmit diseases like Taluremia, Francisella, Rickettsial
diseases and tick borne viral encephalitis.
 Examples tick related conditions
Tick genera Medical condition Comment
1. Ixodes ricinus (common a) Lyme disease caused by Lyme disease is also called relapsing fever
sheep tick, castor bean bacterium called Borrelia
tick) burgdoferi
b) Tick borne viral encephalitis -Transmitted by consumption of milk from
infected animals
-Prevention requires rapid removal of attached
tick

2. Ripicephalus Rickettsial disease

3. Dermacentor Rickettsial diseases
Colorado tick fever
4. Haemaphysalis Taluremia caused by Francisella Bite of a tick creates a portal of entry
tularensis
5. Ornithodoros moubata ( Relapsing fever in Africa Can be avoided by not sleeping on floors of mud
a soft tick) houses, ticks have difficulty in climbing legs of
beds especially metallic ones
Examples tick related conditions

• Tularemia • Lyme disease

 G. MITE RELATED CONDITIONS
• The major mites of medical significance are;
a. House dust mites
b. Scabies mites
c. Biting mites
• They can sometimes be present in hay, cheese or dried fruits.
• Some mites such as Demodex folliculorum and Demodex brevis
live in hair follicles or oil producing glands but produce no
symptoms.
 Mites related conditions…
Dust mites
 They feed on dead skin cells
and thrive in warm and humid
environments.
They often live in large numbers
in bedrooms sometimes cause
asthma when the mite and their
excreta are inhaled.
 House dust mites either
produce or concentrate potent
allergens commonly found in
non-ventilated houses.
 Mites related conditions…

Scabies mites
 Sarcoptes scabiei
(scabies mites)
Causes an itchy, popular
eruptions in the skin
usually termed scabies.
 Mites related conditions…
Biting mites
 Are parasitic to mammals and
birds. They occasionally attack
humans and cause irritations
and inflammations of the skin.
 The example of biting mites is
Trombiculid mites which
transmit typhus fever caused by
Rickettsia tsutsugamushi.
 Some of the References
• Essentials of Medical Parasitology by Apurba-Sankar-Sastry.

• Manual of clinical microbiology volume 3 ; by Murray P. (pp. 1257–1273).

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