Objective To understand the species, ecology of mosquitoes involved in the transmission of malaria in Jinghong, a border area in Yunnan Province. Methods A village called Manghuilong with historically high incidence of malaria along the border area in Jinghong City, Yunnan Province, was selected as a pilot site for the investigation of mosquitoes involved in the transmission of malaria. Mosquitoes were captured with light in 5 living houses and livestock houses evenly located in the village three days a month from June to October in 2015. The mosquito density was recorded in each house. The host species of blood in the stomach of captured mosquitoes were identified by multiple PCR to determine their bloodthirsty habit. The nocturnal activities of mosquitoes were observed by tent trap in and out of the village. The Plasmodium-specific primer-based nest PCR was used to detect sporozoite infection in captured mosquitoes. Results A total of 1 286 mosquitoes belonged to 13 species of Anopheles were captured, including 936 An. sinensis (72.8%) and 188 An. minor (14.6%) as dominant species. The main source of Anopheles was from livestock houses, accounting for 85.6% (1 101). PCR detection on blood from 125 An. sinensis showed that all blood was from pig, no one from human source. The biting incidence of An. sinensis on human in the village was 0.6 per person per hour, and outside village was 0.2 per person per hour. The peak of nocturnal activity was from 8 : 00 pm to 10 : 00 pm. Results of nested PCR on 101 An. minimus, 517 An. sinensis and 40 An. multiflora showed that no Plasmodium sporozoite infection was detected in all captured mosquitoes. Conclusion An. sinensis was the dominant species of mosquito in Jinghong, Yunnan Province, followed by An. minimus. However, An. sinensis mainly feeds on blood of domestic livestock, not on humans. There was no Plasmodium infected mosquito detected in this area.