The sporozoites enter the liver cells and divide to produce merozoites which then infect the red blood cells. The merozoites consume the hemoglobin in the red blood cells and divide, producing many identical cells. When the hemoglobin is consumed, the red blood cells disintegrate, releasing the merozoites. The release of merozoites occurs at intervals which depend upon the species of Plasmodium , causing chills and fever. This cycle can repeat indefinitely.
Some merozoites can divide asexually to produce haploid cells, called gametocytes.
The gametocytes form many gametes and fertilization forms zygotes, which are the only diploid part of the life cycle. Meiosis occurs to form sporozoites, which completes the life cycle. Plasmodium has a huge number of genes which have instructions to make different versions of a protein which attaches the infected red blood cell to the wall of the blood vessel. So, the infected blood cell is not able to be carried to the spleen, which recycles old and infected cells. It does, but the Plasmodium has a huge number of genes to make a huge number of proteins which hold the red blood cell to the blood vessel wall.