The life cycle of P. falciparum. The Anopheles mosquito bites a human and injects sporozoite forms. These move to the liver and invade hepatocytes, in which they develop to produce exoerythrocytic merozoite forms that are released into the blood stream. Merozoites invade erythrocytes and grow into trophozoites and mature schizonts. Merozoites are released that reinvade new erythrocytes. Gametocytes, formed from the asexual blood stage, are taken up by a feeding mosquito into the gut where they mature to form male and female gametes. The fertilized zygote develops to an ookinete and an oocyst and finally sporozoites that migrate to the salivary glands.