How does the malaria parasite get into a mosquito?

When a mosquito bites a human infected with malaria, it draws some blood into its gut. This blood may contain male and female gametocytes - the only forms in the human that can reproduce sexually.

Inside the mosquito gut, the gametocytes mature into male and female gametes. The male gametes (microgametes) emerge from the cells that had contained them and they swim around the mosquito gut.

When a microgamete fertilises a macrogamete, a zygote is formed.

After forming, the zygote develops into a motile form called an ookinete. The ookinete travels to the wall of the mosquito gut, where it develops into an oocyst.

Sporozoites develop within the oocyst. When the oocyst bursts, sporozoites are released and carried in the mosquito's blood to the salivary glands. When the mosquito bites a person, the sporozoites enter the human's bloodstream and the malaria life cycle begins again.