For years the Dinka tribe of south Sudan has been ridden with war, poverty, and religious turmoil. But the Dinka tribe has another problem. A problem even more devastating than war. A problem which robs the culture of their most valuable asset: their children, their future. High instances of disease carried by insects kill thousands of Dinka men, women and children each year. In the proceeding I will discuss general insect structure and function, and why insects are such good disease carriers.
To fully understand diseases carried by insects, we must first have a basic understanding of the structure of an insect, and how their body works. An insect is characterized by a hard outer covering (exoskeleton), a segmented body, and jointed legs (1). The body of the typical adult insect is divided into three sections: the head, thorax, and abdomen. The head bears the mouthparts, eyes, and antennae. The thorax is divided into three segments, each with a pair of jointed legs, and bears two pairs of wings. The abdomen has posterior appendages associated with reproduction (1). .
Insects breathe via a network of "air tubes" located along the sides of the body. The air tubes open to the outside of the body. Larvae laid in the water breathe by using external gills (think goldfish). Insects have a simple circulatory system which is composed of a tubular heart that pumps blood forward into the head, from which it diffuses through the tissues and back into the heart (1). All of the structural components of the insect are vital to the function of an insect.
Insects can prove to be harmful to humans in a myriad of ways. Humans depend on the productivity of their crops for survival. However, humans are not the only creatures to depend that same productivity. Since the beginning of the insect uprising, humans have constantly battled crop pests such as aphids, locusts, and the coddling moth, which can do an enormous amount of damage in a short amount of time.
