The following stages are involved in the cycle:

1. A female anopheles mosquito bites a human infected with malaria and picks up Plasmodium gametes.
2. Fertilization occurs in the mosquito’s digestive tract, and Plasmodium sporozoites develop.
3. The infected mosquito bites another human, transmitting the sporozoites through its saliva to the human bloodstream. Plasmodium sporozites infecting a human liver is labeled.
4. Inside the human body, the sporozoites infect liver cells, develop into merozoites, and then infect red blood cells. Merozoites infecting red blood cells is labeled.
5. Infected red blood cells burst, causing malaria symptoms in the human host. Some of the released merozoites form gametes.