Anopheles (Diptera: Culicidae) and Malaria in Northern Europe, with Special Reference to Sweden

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Abstract
Based on classical egg-morphology studies and enzyme electrophoresis of adult females, the geographic distributions in Sweden of 4 species in the Anopheles maculipennis complex were investigated. Anopheles messeae was the most abundant species and was present in most parts of the country up to at least 67°N. Anopheles maculipennis was recorded in southern and central Sweden up to about 60°N. North of this latitude the latter species was replaced by An. beklemishevi, recorded for the first time from the Scandinavian peninsula. Anopheles atroparvus was found only on the southeastern coast of the Swedish mainland. The distribution of An. claviger is also reviewed. This species appears to be relatively rare but is distributed to about 60°N. In the 18th and 19th centuries, An. messeae was probably the principal vector during the malaria epidemics in Sweden. Anopheles atroparvus may have maintained malaria endemicity into the present century in certain coastal localities in southern Sweden.