[Heart of the Mosquito Anopheles Gambiae]

The mosquito heart is a long muscular tube tethered to the dorsal cuticle (the mosquito’s back), extending the length of the abdomen. To obtain this fluorescence microphotograph, a mosquito was dissected, isolating the dorsal portion of the abdomen. Two fluorescent dyes were applied. One binds muscle cells and stains them green. The second binds DNA and stains cell nuclei blue. The image is viewed top down. The heart is the narrow tube that extends horizontally across the entire photograph.