[Animation] - Malaria: Life Cycle of Plasmodium

What is an advantage of having two different host species for Plasmodium?

The organism causing malaria, Plasmodium, has a two host life cycle. In order to complete the life cycle, Plasmodium must move from mosquito to human and then back to mosquito again. Having two hosts may seem inefficient but it is very common in eukaryotic parasites. If Plasmodium only had a single host, either humans or mosquitoes, it would be difficult for the parasite to move to a new host individual. Eukaryotic parasites generally cannot move from host to host by casual contact. Mosquitoes feed on human blood and the transfer of blood and anticoagulant between humans and mosquitoes allows for the predictable transfer of the parasite.

<a rel="nofollow" href="https://http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/dl/free/9834092339/291136/28a_malaria_life_cycle_of_plasodium.swf" target="_blank">https://http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/dl/free/9834092339/291136/28a_malaria_life_cycle_of_plasodium.swf</a>