Mosquito
Sign in to saveMosquitoes, the Culicidae, are a family of small flies consisting of 3,600 species. The word mosquito (formed by mosca and diminutive -ito) is Spanish and Portuguese for little fly. Mosquitoes have a slender, segmented body, one pair of wings, three pairs of long hair-like legs, and specialized, highly elongated, piercing-sucking mouthparts. All mosquitoes drink nectar from flowers; females of many species have adapted to also drink blood. The group diversified during the Cretaceous period. Evolutionary biologists view mosquitoes as micropredators, small animals that parasitise larger ones by
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Mosquitoes are a family of small flies with about 3,600 species, characterized by slender bodies, one pair of wings, and specialized piercing-sucking mouthparts that allow females of many species to drink blood from larger animals. They matter because they are considered micropredators that parasitize larger organisms, making them significant to understanding ecological relationships and disease transmission.
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Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- taxon
- Parent taxon
- Culicomorpha
- Image
- Mosquito on human skin.jpg
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via Wikidata · CC0
Article
37 sectionsContents
- Description and life cycle
- Adult
- Eggs
- Larva
- Pupa
- Feeding by adults
- Diet
- Host animals
- Finding hosts
- Mouthparts
- Saliva
- Egg development and blood digestion
- Distribution
- Cosmopolitan
- Effect of climate change
- Ecology
- Predators and parasites
- Pollination
- Parasitism
- Evolution
- Fossil record
- Taxonomy
- Phylogeny
- External
- Internal
- Interactions with humans
- Vectors of disease
- Control
- Repellents
- Bites
- In human culture
- Greek mythology
- Origin myths
- Modern era
- References
- Further reading
- External links
Mosquitoes, the Culicidae, are a family of small flies consisting of 3,600 species. The word mosquito (formed by mosca and diminutive -ito) is Spanish and Portuguese for little fly. Mosquitoes have a slender, segmented body, one pair of wings, three pairs of long hair-like legs, and specialized, highly elongated, piercing-sucking mouthparts. All mosquitoes drink nectar from flowers; females of many species have adapted to also drink blood. The group diversified during the Cretaceous period. Evolutionary biologists view mosquitoes as micropredators, small animals that parasitise larger ones by drinking their blood without immediately killing them. Medical parasitologists view mosquitoes as vectors of disease, carrying protozoan parasites or bacterial or viral pathogens from one host to another.
The mosquito lifecycle consists of four stages: egg, larva, pupa, and adult. Eggs are laid on the water surface; they hatch into motile larvae that feed on aquatic algae and organic material. These larvae are important food sources for many freshwater animals, such as dragonfly nymphs, many fish, and some birds. Adult females of many species have mouthparts adapted to pierce the skin of a host and feed on blood of a wide range of vertebrate hosts, and some invertebrates, primarily other arthropods. Some species only produce eggs after a blood meal.