The sleeping chironomid (Polypedilum vanderplanki Hinton) lives on temporary rock pools in the semi‐arid tropical regions of Africa. Its larvae are able to survive the dry season in a completely desiccated ametabolic state known as anhydrobiosis. So far, P. vanderplanki was the only species among all insects showing demonstrated anhydrobiotic ability. Here, we show that a new related species originating from Malawi, Polypedilum pembai sp.n., is also anhydrobiotic and that its desiccation tolerance mechanism is probably similar to what is observed in P. vanderplanki. The new species, P. pembai sp.n., is described with special attention to the common and different morphological features, compared with P. vanderplanki. Phylogenetic analysis showed that both species are closely related, suggesting that anhydrobiosis evolved only once in their common ancestor about 49 Ma somewhere in Africa, before the divergence of two species, one in the sub‐Saharan area and another in southeastern Africa.

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Malaria remains a severe health problem in Sub-Saharan Africa, with approximately one million deaths and 365 million cases each year. In terms of malaria control, insecticide-treated bednets are an effective tool, and many organizations have distributed free or highly subsidized bednets in malaria endemic areas. Nevertheless, some recipients do not use bednets because of social, environmental or cultural factors. Making vulnerable populations aware of the presence of mosquitoes may improve bednet use among people owning but not using a bednet. We hypothesized that showing freshly collected mosquitoes from the vicinity could improve bednet use in households owning but not using bednets. To test this hypothesis, we applied a household-based cluster-randomized controlled assessor blind educational trial. Indirect observation of mosquitoes, via educational leaflets, produced no change in bednet use, while showing freshly captured mosquitoes led to a 13-fold increase in bednet use. Our results suggest that direct observation of freshly captured mosquitoes can encourage bednet use and may potentially improve effective bednet coverage for malaria control and elimination.

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