mosquito

(məskē`tō), small, long-legged insectinsect,
invertebrate animal of the class Insecta of the phylum Arthropoda. Like other arthropods, an insect has a hard outer covering, or exoskeleton, a segmented body, and jointed legs. Adult insects typically have wings and are the only flying invertebrates.
..... Click the link for more information. of the order Diptera, the true fliesfly,
name commonly used for any of a variety of winged insects, but properly restricted to members of the order Diptera, the true flies, which includes the housefly, gnat, midge, mosquito, and tsetse fly.
..... Click the link for more information. . The females of most species have piercing and sucking mouth parts and apparently they must feed at least once upon mammalian blood before their eggs can develop properly. The males may have beaks, or probosces, but cannot pierce, and they feed upon fruit and plant juices. The female produces the characteristic whining sound by vibrating thin horny membranes on the thorax. Mosquitoes have become adapted to extremes of climate and are found far north of the Arctic Circle, where they winter as larvae frozen in the ice.

Mosquito eggs are laid singly or glued together to form rafts, usually in stagnant water in ponds, pools, open containers, and other aquatic habitats—the particular type of habitat depending on the species. The aquatic larvae, or wrigglers, pass through four larval stages, feeding on microscopic animal and plant life. Except in the genus Anopheles, the wriggler has an air tube near the end of the abdomen and makes frequent trips to the surface to use it as a supplement to the gills. The pupa, or tumbler, shaped like a question mark, takes no food but surfaces often to breathe through air tubes on its thorax. One method of mosquito control is the spreading of oily substances on infested water, which prevents access to air and suffocates the pupae. In summer the life cycle may take only two weeks, resulting in several generations a year in some species.

During blood meals the females may either acquire or transmit various disease organisms. Several species of Anopheles mosquitoes, recognizable by their tilted resting position, carry the protozoan parasites that cause malariamalaria,
infectious parasitic disease that can be either acute or chronic and is frequently recurrent. Malaria is common in Africa, Central and South America, the Mediterranean countries, Asia, and many of the Pacific islands.
..... Click the link for more information. ; species of the genus Aedes transmit the viruses responsible for yellow feveryellow fever,
acute infectious disease endemic in tropical Africa and many areas of South and Central America. Yellow fever is caused by a virus transmitted by the bite of the female Aedes aegypti mosquito, which breeds in stagnant water near human habitations.
..... Click the link for more information. , chikungunyachikungunya
, viral disease transmitted by the bite of an infected female Aedes mosquito. Symptoms appear after an incubation period of four to eight days and include sudden high fever, severe joint and muscle pain, and often headache, nausea, fatigue, and rash.
..... Click the link for more information. , dengue feverdengue fever
, acute infectious disease caused by four closely related viruses and transmitted by the bite of the female Aedes mosquito; it is also known as breakbone fever and bone-crusher disease.
..... Click the link for more information. , and Zika virusZika virus
, single-stranded RNA virus of the genus flavivirus that infects human and primates and causes a disease known as Zika fever or zika. It is primarily transmitted by the bite of a female Aedes
..... Click the link for more information. ; and in the S United States and in the tropics, members of the genus Culex, to which the common house mosquito belongs, are vectors of filariasis, the infection by a filarial worm that causes elephantiasiselephantiasis
, abnormal enlargement of any part of the body due to obstruction of the lymphatic channels in the area (see lymphatic system), usually affecting the arms, legs, or external genitals.
..... Click the link for more information. , and human encephalitisencephalitis
, general term used to describe a diffuse inflammation of the brain and spinal cord, usually of viral origin, often transmitted by mosquitoes, in contrast to a bacterial infection of the meninges (membrane surrounding the brain and spinal cord), known as meningitis.
..... Click the link for more information. . Culex species also transmit West Nile virusWest Nile virus,
microorganism and the infection resulting from it, which typically produces no symptoms or a flulike condition. The virus is a flavivirus and is related to a number of viruses that cause encephalitis.
..... Click the link for more information. .

Dragonflies, damselflies, and several insectivorous birds are the natural enemies of the adults; the wrigglers are eaten in large quantities by small fishes and aquatic insects. Control of these major insect pests by other than natural means poses many problems; the long-range harmful effects of many insecticidesinsecticides,
chemical, biological, or other agents used to destroy insect pests; the term commonly refers to chemical agents only. Chemical Insecticides

The modern history of chemical insecticides in the United States dates from 1867, when Paris green proved
..... Click the link for more information. are very serious, and swamp drainage tends to upset the balance of nature in addition to eliminating the mosquito.

Mosquitoes are classified in the phylum ArthropodaArthropoda
[Gr.,=jointed feet], largest and most diverse animal phylum. The arthropods include crustaceans, insects, centipedes, millipedes, spiders, scorpions, and the extinct trilobites.
..... Click the link for more information. , class Insecta, order Diptera, family Culicidae.

Bibliography

See bulletins of the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture; study by A. Spielman and M. D'Antonio (2001).

mosquito

[mə′skēd·ō] (invertebrate zoology) Any member of the dipterous subfamily Culicinae; a slender fragile insect, with long legs, a long slender abdomen, and narrow wings.

mosquito

any dipterous insect of the family Culicidae: the females have a long proboscis adapted for piercing the skin of man and animals to suck their blood

mosquito

[mos-ke´to] any of various small winged insects, many of which are blood-sucking and important vectors of disease. The most important genera are Aedes, Anopheles, and Culex, which are responsible for the transmission of yellow fever, malaria, dengue, and other diseases.

mos·qui·to

, pl.

mos·qui·toes

(mŭs-kē'tō, -tōs), A blood-sucking dipterous insect of the family Culicidae. Aedes, Anopheles, Culex, Mansonia, and Stegomyia are the genera containing most of the species involved in the transmission of parasitic and viral pathogens. [Sp. dim. of mosca, fly, fr. L. musca, a fly]

mosquito

(mə-skē′tō)n. pl. mosqui·toes or mosqui·tos Any of numerous slender two-winged insects of the family Culicidae, having aquatic larvae and in the adult female a long proboscis, used in most species for sucking blood. Some species of mosquitoes transmit the pathogens that cause certain diseases, notably malaria, yellow fever, and dengue. Also called regionally skeeter. tater

mosquito

Medical entomology An arthropod of the dipteran family Culicidae, the ♀ of which is a bloodsucker; eggs are laid on water–insecticides are sprayed on stagnant water for mosquito control–where larvae feed on debris or occasionally other living organisms Mosquito genera of medical importance Aedes, Anopheles, Culex, Stegomyia, vectors for blood-borne parasites–eg, Brugia malayi, Wuchereria bancrofti, Plasmodium spp, Trypanosoma spp, and viruses–eg, alphaviridae, flaviviridae, togaviridae, that cause California, eastern equine, Venezuelan and western equine encephalitides, O'nyong-nyong, dengue fever, Rift valley fever, yellow fever Surgery Mosquito forceps A small hemostatic forceps. See Forceps.

mos·qui·to

, pl. mosquitoes (mŏs-kē'tō, -tōz) A blood-sucking dipterous insect of the family Culicidae. Aedes, Anopheles, Culex, Mansonia, and Stegomyia are genera containing most species involved in the transmission of protozoan and other disease-producing parasites. [Sp. dim. of mosca, fly, fr. L. musca, a fly]

mosquito

a DIPTERAN fly that acts as a vector of numerous tropical diseases, such as MALARIA and YELLOW FEVER.

Patient discussion about mosquito

Q. does mosquito bites considered as an edema a bet with a friend- please help solve an issue an help me win a new I pod :)A. (don't take the mini i-pod, it sucks). it's true-the mosquito has a number of proteins and materials in his saliva that works as anticoagulants and vasodilators (blood vessel broadening). these causes the bite area to start an immune reaction and one of the consequences is an edema-"an increase of interstitial fluid in any organ", that means fluids are exiting blood system. in this case- not too much...

Q. What is this mosquito bite that became a rash?? I was bitten by a mosquito a few hours ago and the bite turned in to a red rash that spreaded all over my body. It's already starting to disappear but I would really like to know what was it! If you have any ideas...please share with me...A. What you describe may be urticaria (hives). It's a kind of allergic reaction to many stimuli, including drugs, infections, foods etc, and in your case-insect bite. The rash is red-pink and elevated above the normal skin level, and lesions come and go in a matter of hours, an eventually disappears. There may also be a feeling of itching.
You may read more here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urticaria

Q. what can happen to me if a mosquito bite me? is it not safe to my health? are there side effects? A. Mosquitos, in some areas carry Nile disease. Remeber to wear repellent with deet.

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Words related to mosquito

noun two-winged insect whose female has a long proboscis to pierce the skin and suck the blood of humans and animals

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