mosquito

File:Mosquito Life-Cycle.svg

Like all flies, mosquitoes go through four stages in their life cycles: egg, larva, pupa, and adult. The first three stages—egg, larva, and pupa—are largely aquatic,{{cite web |title=FAQs |publisher=AMCA |url=https://www.mosquito.org/page/faq |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190716212718/https://www.mosquito.org/page/FAQ |archive-date=2019-07-16 }} the eggs usually being laid in stagnant water.{{cite journal |last=Wigglesworth |first=Vincent B. |author-link=Vincent Wigglesworth |year=1933 |journal=Journal of Experimental Biology |volume=10 |pages=27–36 |title=The Adaptation of Mosquito Larvae to Salt Water |url=http://jeb.biologists.org/content/10/1/27 |issue=1 |doi=10.1242/jeb.10.1.27 |doi-access=free |bibcode=1933JExpB..10...27W |access-date=2013-04-01 |archive-date=2014-06-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140624025943/http://jeb.biologists.org/content/10/1/27 |url-status=live}} They hatch to become larvae, which feed, grow, and molt until they change into pupae. The adult mosquito emerges from the mature pupa as it floats at the water surface. Mosquitoes have adult lifespans ranging from as short as a week to around a month. Some species overwinter as adults in diapause.Kosova, Jonida (2003) [http://digitalcommons.unf.edu/ojii_volumes/94 "Longevity Studies of Sindbis Virus Infected Aedes Albopictus"] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120425162236/http://digitalcommons.unf.edu/ojii_volumes/94/ |date=2012-04-25 }}. All Volumes (2001–2008). Paper 94.

Mosquitoes have one pair of wings, with distinct scales on the surface. Their wings are long and narrow, while the legs are long and thin. The body, usually grey or black, is slender, and typically 3–6 mm long. When at rest, mosquitoes hold their first pair of legs outwards, whereas the somewhat similar Chironomid midges hold these legs forwards.{{Cite web |url=https://nature.mdc.mo.gov/discover-nature/field-guide/midges |title=Midges |website=MDC Discover Nature |access-date=2019-11-19 |archive-date=2019-10-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191026055541/https://nature.mdc.mo.gov/discover-nature/field-guide/midges |url-status=live}} Anopheles mosquitoes can fly for up to four hours continuously at {{cvt|1|to|2|km/h}},{{cite journal |last1=Kaufmann |first1=C. |last2=Briegel |first2=H. |title=Flight performance of the malaria vectors Anopheles gambiae and Anopheles atroparvus |journal=Journal of Vector Ecology |volume=29 |issue=1 |pages=140–153 |date=June 2004 |pmid=15266751 |url=http://www.sove.org/Journal%20PDF/June%202004/Kaufmann.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110728043927/http://www.sove.org/Journal%20PDF/June%202004/Kaufmann.pdf |archive-date=2011-07-28 }} traveling up to {{cvt|12|km}} in a night. Males beat their wings between 450 and 600 times per second, driven indirectly by muscles which vibrate the thorax.{{cite web |first=Diana |last=Leung |url=https://hypertextbook.com/facts/2000/DianaLeung.shtml |title=Frequency of mosquito wings |year=2000 |website=The Physics Factbook |editor-last=Elert |editor-first=Glenn |accessdate=2022-01-24 |archive-date=2022-01-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220125000341/https://hypertextbook.com/facts/2000/DianaLeung.shtml |url-status=live}}{{cite journal |last=Smith |first=David S. |title=Flight muscles of insects |journal=Scientific American |volume=212 |pages=76–88 |year=1965 |issue=6 |doi=10.1038/scientificamerican0665-76 |pmid=14327957 |bibcode=1965SciAm.212f..76S }} Mosquitoes are mainly small flies; the largest are in the genus Toxorhynchites, at up to {{cvt|18|mm}} in length and {{cvt|24|mm}} in wingspan.{{cite book |author1=Cook, G.C. |author2=Zumla, A |year=2009 |title=Manson's Tropical Diseases |publisher=Saunders Elsevier |page=1735 |edition=22 |isbn=978-1-4160-4470-3}} Those in the genus Aedes are much smaller, with a wingspan of {{cvt|2.8|to|4.4|mm}}.{{cite web |title=African malaria mosquito |url=https://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/aquatic/Anopheles_gambiae.htm |publisher=University of Florida |access-date=11 February 2024}}

Mosquitoes can develop from egg to adult in hot weather in as few as five days, but it may take up to a month. At dawn or dusk, within days of pupating, males assemble in swarms, mating when females fly in. The female mates only once in her lifetime, attracted by the pheromones emitted by the male.{{cite web |url=https://www.timeshighereducation.com/hub/university-witwatersrand/p/male-mosquito-odours-reveal-how-mozzies-mate |title=Male mosquito odours reveal how mozzies mate |publisher=University of the Witwatersrand |date=5 August 2020 |access-date=25 January 2024 |archive-date=25 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240125141528/https://www.timeshighereducation.com/hub/university-witwatersrand/p/male-mosquito-odours-reveal-how-mozzies-mate |url-status=live }}{{cite journal |last1=Mozūraitis |first1=R. |last2=Hajkazemian |first2=M. |last3=Zawada |first3=J.W. |display-authors=etal |title=Male swarming aggregation pheromones increase female attraction and mating success among multiple African malaria vector mosquito species |journal=Nature Ecology & Evolution |volume=4 |issue=10 |pages=1395–1401 |date=3 August 2020 |doi=10.1038/s41559-020-1264-9 |pmid=32747772|bibcode=2020NatEE...4.1395M |s2cid=220948478 |url=https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:e28af752-35bf-4ed0-b0c6-7d612b3e44e3 }} As a species that need blood for the eggs to develop, the female finds a host and drinks a full meal of blood. She then rests for two or three days to digest the meal and allow her eggs to develop. She is then ready to lay the eggs and repeat the cycle of feeding and laying. Females can live for up to three weeks in the wild, depending on temperature, humidity, their ability to obtain a blood meal, and avoiding being killed by their vertebrate hosts.

File:Culex pipiens diagram en.svg|Anatomy of an adult female mosquito

File:Aedes aegypti E-A-Goeldi 1905.jpg|Adult yellow fever mosquito Aedes aegypti, typical of subfamily Culicinae. Male (left) has bushy antennae and longer palps than female (right)

The eggs of most mosquitoes are laid in stagnant water, which may be a pond, a marsh, a temporary puddle, a water-filled hole in a tree, or the water-trapping leaf axils of a bromeliad. Some lay near the water's edge while others attach their eggs to aquatic plants. A few, like Opifex fuscus, can breed in salt-marshes. Wyeomyia smithii breeds in the pitchers of pitcher plants, its larvae feeding on decaying insects that have drowned there.Crans, Wayne J.; [http://www.rci.rutgers.edu/~insects/sp27.htm Wyeomyia smithii (Coquillett)] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130605173233/http://www.rci.rutgers.edu/~insects/sp27.htm |date=2013-06-05 }}. Rutgers University, Center for Vector Biology.

Oviposition, egg-laying, varies between species. Anopheles females fly over the water, touching down or dapping to place eggs on the surface one at a time; their eggs are roughly cigar-shaped and have floats down their sides. A female can lay 100–200 eggs in her lifetime.{{cite web |title=Anopheles Mosquitoes |publisher=Centers for Disease Control and Prevention |url=https://www.cdc.gov/malaria/about/biology/mosquitoes/ |access-date=December 13, 2023 |date=July 16, 2020 |archive-date=18 May 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120518210447/http://www.cdc.gov/malaria/about/biology/mosquitoes/ |url-status=live }} Aedes females drop their eggs singly, on damp mud or other surfaces near water; their eggs hatch only when they are flooded. Females in genera such as Culex, Culiseta, and Uranotaenia lay their eggs in floating rafts.{{cite book |last1=Gullan |first1=P. J. |last2=Cranston |first2=P. S. |title=The Insects: An Outline of Entomology |publisher=Wiley-Blackwell |location=Oxford |year=2014 |edition=5th |isbn=978-1-118-84616-2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lF5hBAAAQBAJ |page=280 |access-date=14 December 2023 |archive-date=11 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231211165406/https://books.google.com/books?id=lF5hBAAAQBAJ |url-status=live }}{{cite book |last1=Spielman |first1=Andrew |last2=D'Antonio |first2=M. |chapter=Part One: Magnificent Enemy |title=Mosquito: a natural history of our most persistent and deadly foe |publisher=Hyperion |location=New York |year=2001 |isbn=978-0-7868-6781-3 |url=https://archive.org/details/mosquitonaturalh00spie }} Mansonia females in contrast lay their eggs in arrays, attached usually to the under-surfaces of waterlily pads.{{cite journal |last1=Amorim |first1=J. A. |last2=Sa |first2=I. L. R. |last3=Rojas |first3=M. V. R. |last4=Santos Neto |first4=N. F. |last5=Galardo |first5=A. K. R. |last6=Carvalho |first6=D. P. |last7=Ribeiro |first7=K. A. N. |last8=Sallum |first8=M. A. M. |display-authors=5 |title=Aquatic Macrophytes Hosting Immature Mansonia (Mansonia) Blanchard, 1901 (Diptera, Culicidae) in Porto Velho, Rondonia State, Brazil |journal=Journal of Medical Entomology |volume=59 |issue=2 |date=2022-03-16 |doi=10.1093/jme/tjab223 |pages=631–637|pmid=35043213 }}

Clutches of eggs of most mosquito species hatch simultaneously, but Aedes eggs in diapause hatch irregularly over an extended period.{{cite journal |last1=Huang |first1=Juan |last2=Walker |first2=Edward D |last3=Vulule |first3=John |last4=Miller |first4=James R. |title=Daily temperature profiles in and around Western Kenyan larval habitats of Anopheles gambiae as related to egg mortality |journal=Malaria Journal |volume=5 |issue=1 |date=2006 |page=87 |pmid=17038186 |pmc=1617108 |doi=10.1186/1475-2875-5-87 |doi-access=free }}

File:Anopheles_egg_2_(cropped).jpg|Anopheles eggs with side floats

File:Mosquito egg SEM.jpg|Electron micrograph of a culicine egg

File:Gelege1 (cropped).jpg|Culex egg raft

The mosquito larva's head has prominent mouth brushes used for feeding, a large thorax with no legs, and a segmented abdomen. It breathes air through a siphon on its abdomen, so must come to the surface frequently. It spends most of its time feeding on algae, bacteria, and other microbes in the water's surface layer. It dives below the surface when disturbed. It swims either by propelling itself with its mouth brushes, or by jerkily wriggling its body. It develops through several stages, or instars, molting each time, after which it metamorphoses into a pupa.{{cite web |title=Mosquito Life Cycle |date=21 February 2013 |url=https://www.epa.gov/mosquitocontrol/mosquito-life-cycle |publisher=Environmental Protection Agency |access-date=12 December 2023 |archive-date=19 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201219184319/https://www.epa.gov/mosquitocontrol/mosquito-life-cycle |url-status=live }} Aedes larvae, except when very young, can withstand drying; they go into diapause for several months if their pond dries out.

File:AnophelesLarvaPhoto CDCHarryWeinburgh publicdomain.jpg|Anopheles larva

File:Culex restuans larva diagram en.svg|Anatomy of a Culex larva

File:Culex sp larvae.png|Culex larvae plus one pupa

The head and thorax of the pupa are merged into a cephalothorax, with the abdomen curving around beneath it. The pupa or "tumbler" can swim actively by flipping its abdomen. Like the larva, the pupa of most species must come to the surface frequently to breathe, which they do through a pair of respiratory trumpets on their cephalothoraxes. They do not feed; they pass much of their time hanging from the surface of the water by their respiratory trumpets. If alarmed, they swim downwards by flipping their abdomens in much the same way as the larvae. If undisturbed, they soon float up again. The adult emerges from the pupa at the surface of the water and flies off.

File:Underwater view of mosquito pupae in standing water.jpg|Mosquito pupae, shortly before the adults emerged. The head and thorax are fused into the cephalothorax.

{{further|Anautogeny}}

File:Mosquito Tasmania crop.jpg feeding on blood from a human arm. ]]

Both male and female mosquitoes feed on nectar, aphid honeydew, and plant juices,{{cite journal |last1=Peach |first1=Daniel A. H. |last2=Gries |first2=Gerhard |title=Mosquito phytophagy – sources exploited, ecological function, and evolutionary transition to haematophagy |journal=Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata|issue=2 |doi=10.1111/eea.12852 |year=2019 |volume=168 |doi-access=free |pages=120–136 }} but in many species the females are also blood-sucking ectoparasites. In some of those species, a blood meal is essential for egg production; in others, it just enables the female to lay more eggs.{{cite journal |title=Multimodal floral cues guide mosquitoes to tansy inflorescences |journal=Scientific Reports |date=March 2019 |volume=9 |issue=1 |page=3908 |pmid=30846726 |last1=Peach |first1=Daniel A. H. |last2=Gries |first2=R. |last3=Zhai |first3=H. |last4=Young |first4=N. |last5=Gries |first5=G. |doi=10.1038/s41598-019-39748-4 |pmc=6405845 |bibcode=2019NatSR...9.3908P }} Both plant materials and blood are useful sources of energy in the form of sugars. Blood supplies more concentrated nutrients, such as lipids, but the main function of blood meals is to obtain proteins for egg production.{{cite book |last=Tyagi |first=B.K. |title=The Invincible Deadly Mosquitoes |publisher=Scientific Publishers |year=2004 |isbn=978-93-87741-30-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4g9fDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA79 |access-date=2021-04-06 |page=79 |quote=Only female mosquitoes require a blood meal (protein)...The number of egg formation and development in ovary of the female is directly dependent on quantum and nature supply of blood meal. |archive-date=2022-01-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220129181746/https://books.google.com/books?id=4g9fDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA79 |url-status=live }}{{cite web |title=Biology |url=https://www.mosquito.org/page/biology |website=mosquito.org |publisher=American Mosquito Control Association |access-date=6 April 2021 |quote=Acquiring a blood meal (protein) is essential for egg production, but mostly both male and female mosquitoes are nectar feeders for their nutrition. |archive-date=29 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210329163726/https://www.mosquito.org/page/biology |url-status=live }} Mosquitoes like Toxorhynchites reproduce autogenously, not needing blood meals. Disease vector mosquitoes like Anopheles and Aedes are anautogenous, requiring blood to lay eggs. Many Culex species are partially anautogenous, needing blood only for their second and subsequent clutches of eggs.{{cite journal |last1=Sawabe |first1=K. |last2=Moribayashi |first2=A. |title=Lipid utilization for ovarian development in an autogenous mosquito, Culex pipiens molestus (Diptera: Culicidae) |journal=Journal of Medical Entomology |volume=37 |issue=5 |pages=726–731 |date=September 2000 |pmid=11004785 |doi=10.1603/0022-2585-37.5.726 |doi-access=free }}

Blood-sucking mosquitoes favour particular host species, though they are less selective when food is short. Different mosquito species favor amphibians, reptiles including snakes, birds, and mammals. For example, Culiseta melanura sucks the blood of passerine birds, but as mosquito numbers rise they attack mammals including horses and humans, causing epidemics of Eastern equine encephalitis virus in North America.{{cite book |last=Lehane |first=M. J. |title=The Biology of Blood-Sucking in Insects |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZV5EKCEGHIoC&pg=PA151 |date=9 June 2005 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-83608-1 |page=151 |access-date=18 February 2016 |archive-date=28 May 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160528091322/https://books.google.com/books?id=ZV5EKCEGHIoC&pg=PA151 |url-status=live}} Loss of blood from many bites can add up to a large volume, occasionally causing the death of livestock as large as cattle and horses.{{cite web |title=Hurricane Laura exacerbates mosquito problems with livestock |website=LSU AgCenter |date=2020-09-09 |url=http://www.lsuagcenter.com/profiles/rbogren/articles/page1599664054105 |access-date=2022-02-26 |archive-date=2022-02-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220226191729/https://www.lsuagcenter.com/profiles/rbogren/articles/page1599664054105 |url-status=live }} Malaria-transmitting mosquitoes seek out caterpillars and feed on their haemolymph,{{cite journal |last1=George |first1=Justin |last2=Blanford |first2=Simon |last3=Thomas |first3=Matthew B. |last4=Baker |first4=Thomas C. |title=Malaria Mosquitoes Host-Locate and Feed upon Caterpillars |journal=PLOS ONE |volume=9 |issue=11 |date=2014-11-05 |pmid=25372720 |pmc=4220911 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0108894 |page=e108894 |bibcode=2014PLoSO...9j8894G |doi-access=free}} impeding their development.{{cite journal |last1=Martel |first1=Véronique |last2=Schlyter |first2=Fredrik |last3=Ignell |first3=Rickard |last4=Hansson |first4=Bill S. |last5=Anderson |first5=Peter |title=Mosquito feeding affects larval behaviour and development in a moth |journal=PLOS ONE |volume=6 |issue=10 |pages=e25658 |year=2011 |pmid=21991329 |pmc=3185006 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0025658 |bibcode=2011PLoSO...625658M |doi-access=free }}

File:Chironius scurrulus (Yasuni) (cropped) with mosquitoes.jpg|Feeding on a snake

File:Mosquitoes vs. Frog (14555480700) (cropped).jpg|Feeding on a frog

File:JJeffreyApapaneMosquito.jpg|Feeding on a bird

File:How to attract mosquitoes.svg, heat, and many different odorants.]]

Most mosquito species are crepuscular, feeding at dawn or dusk, and resting in a cool place through the heat of the day.{{cite conference |conference=Proceedings of the Eighty-Second Annual Meeting of the New Jersey Mosquito Control Association |year=1989 |pages=53–57 |last=Crans |first=Wayne J. |url=http://www.rci.rutgers.edu/~insects/restbox.htm |title=Resting boxes as mosquito surveillance tools |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060720195034/http://www.rci.rutgers.edu/~insects/restbox.htm |archive-date=2006-07-20 }} Some species, such as the Asian tiger mosquito, are known to fly and feed during daytime.{{cite web |last1=Maruniak |first1=James E. |title=Asian tiger mosquito |url=http://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/aquatic/asian_tiger.htm |website=Featured Creatures |publisher=University of Florida |access-date=October 2, 2014 |location=Gainesville, Florida |date=July 2014 |archive-date=September 7, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140907181247/http://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/aquatic/asian_tiger.htm |url-status=live }} Female mosquitoes hunt for hosts by smelling substances such as carbon dioxide (CO₂) and 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom alcohol, found in exhaled breath) produced from the host, and through visual recognition.{{cite journal |last1=Hallem |first1=Elissa A. |last2=Nicole Fox |first2=A. |last3=Zwiebel |first3=Laurence J. |last4=Carlson |first4=John R. |title=Olfaction: mosquito receptor for human-sweat odorant |journal=Nature |volume=427 |issue=6971 |pages=212–213 |date=January 2004 |pmid=14724626 |doi=10.1038/427212a |bibcode=2004Natur.427..212H |s2cid=4419658 }} The semiochemical that most strongly attracts Culex quinquefasciatus is nonanal.{{cite magazine |url=https://www.usnews.com/science/articles/2009/10/28/scientists-identify-key-smell-that-attracts-mosquitoes-to-humans.html |title=Scientists identify key smell that attracts mosquitoes to humans |magazine=US News |date=October 28, 2009 |access-date=5 September 2017 |archive-date=10 September 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240910225722/https://www.usnews.com/science/articles/2009/10/28/scientists-identify-key-smell-that-attracts-mosquitoes-to-humans |url-status=live }} Another attractant is sulcatone.{{cite news |url=https://richarddawkins.net/2014/11/scientists-have-identified-the-gene-that-makes-mosquitoes-crave-human-blood/ |title=Scientists have identified the gene that makes mosquitoes crave human blood |publisher=Richard Dawkins Foundation |date=November 21, 2014 |access-date=November 21, 2014 |archive-date=November 25, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141125134812/https://richarddawkins.net/2014/11/scientists-have-identified-the-gene-that-makes-mosquitoes-crave-human-blood/ |url-status=live }} A large part of the mosquito's sense of smell, or olfactory system, is devoted to sniffing out blood sources. Of 72 types of odor receptors on its antennae, at least 27 are tuned to detect chemicals found in perspiration.{{cite news |url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/science/medicine/article7014046.ece |newspaper=The Times |location=London |title=Sweat and blood why mosquitoes pick and choose between humans |first=Hannah |last=Devlin |date=February 4, 2010 |access-date=May 13, 2010 |archive-date=October 3, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221003061323/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/ |url-status=dead }} In Aedes, the search for a host takes place in two phases. First, the mosquito flies about until it detects a host's odorants; then it flies towards them, using the concentration of odorants as its guide.{{cite book |last1=Estrada-Franco |first1=R. G. |last2=Craig |first2=G. B. |year=1995 |title=Biology, disease relationship and control of Aedes albopictus |publisher=Pan American Health Organization |location=Washington, D.C. |series=Technical Paper No. 42}} Mosquitoes prefer to feed on people with type O blood, an abundance of skin bacteria, high body heat, and pregnant women.{{cite journal |last1=Shirai |first1=Yoshikazu |last2=Funada |first2=Hisashi |last3=Takizawa |first3=Hisao |last4=Seki |first4=Taisuke |last5=Morohashi |first5=Masaaki |last6=Kamimura |first6=Kiyoshi |title=Landing preference of Aedes albopictus (Diptera: Culicidae) on human skin among ABO blood groups, secretors or nonsecretors, and ABH antigens |journal=Journal of Medical Entomology |volume=41 |issue=4 |pages=796–799 |date=July 2004 |pmid=15311477 |doi=10.1603/0022-2585-41.4.796 |doi-access=free }}{{cite news |last1=Chappell |first1=Bill |title=5 Stars: A Mosquito's Idea Of A Delicious Human |url=https://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2013/07/12/201521175/5-stars-a-mosquitos-idea-of-a-delicious-human |access-date=23 July 2021 |publisher=NPR |date=12 July 2013 |archive-date=14 October 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141014202549/http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2013/07/12/201521175/5-stars-a-mosquitos-idea-of-a-delicious-human |url-status=live }} Individuals' attractiveness to mosquitoes has a heritable, genetically controlled component.{{cite journal |last1=Fernández-Grandon |first1=G. Mandela |last2=Gezan |first2=Salvador A. |last3=Armour |first3=John A. L. |last4=Pickett |first4=John A. |last5=Logan |first5=James G. |title=Heritability of attractiveness to mosquitoes |journal=PLOS ONE |volume=10 |issue=4 |pages=e0122716 |date=22 April 2015 |pmid=25901606 |pmc=4406498 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0122716 |bibcode=2015PLoSO..1022716F |doi-access=free }}

The multitude of characteristics in a host observed by the mosquito allows it to select a host to feed on. This occurs when a mosquito notes the presence of CO₂, as it then activates odour and visual search behaviours that it otherwise would not use. In terms of a mosquito’s olfactory system, chemical analysis has revealed that people who are highly attractive to mosquitoes produce significantly more carboxylic acids.{{Cite journal |last1=De Obaldia |first1=Maria Elena |last2=Morita |first2=Takeshi |last3=Dedmon |first3=Laura C. |last4=Boehmler |first4=Daniel J. |last5=Jiang |first5=Caroline S. |last6=Zeledon |first6=Emely V. |last7=Cross |first7=Justin R. |last8=Vosshall |first8=Leslie B. |display-authors=3 |date=2022-10-27 |title=Differential mosquito attraction to humans is associated with skin-derived carboxylic acid levels |journal=Cell |volume=185 |issue=22 |pages=4099–4116.e13 |doi=10.1016/j.cell.2022.09.034 |pmid=36261039|pmc=10069481 }} A human's unique body odour indicates that the target is actually a human host rather than some other living warm-blooded animal (as the presence of CO₂ shows). Body odour, composed of volatile organic compounds emitted from the skin of humans, is the most important cue used by mosquitoes.{{Cite journal |last=McBride |first=Carolyn |date=12 November 2014 |title=Evolution of mosquito preference for humans linked to an odorant receptor |journal=Nature|volume=515 |issue=7526 |pages=222–227 |doi=10.1038/nature13964 |pmid=25391959 |pmc=4286346 |bibcode=2014Natur.515..222M }} Variation in skin odour is caused by body weight, hormones, genetic factors, and metabolic or genetic disorders. Infections such as malaria can influence an individual’s body odour. People infected by malaria produce relatively large amounts of Plasmodium-induced aldehydes in the skin, creating large cues for mosquitoes as it increases the attractiveness of an odour blend, imitating a "healthy" human odour. Infected individuals produce larger amounts of aldehydes heptanal, octanal, and nonanal. These compounds are detected by mosquito antennae. Thus, people infected with malaria are more prone to mosquito biting.{{Cite journal |last1=Robinson |first1=Ailie |last2=Busula |first2=Annette O. |last3=Voets |first3=Mirjam A. |last4=Beshir |first4=Khalid B. |last5=Caulfield |first5=John C. |last6=Powers |first6=Stephen J. |last7=Verhulst |first7=Niels O. |last8=Winskill |first8=Peter |last9=Muwanguzi |first9=Julian |last10=Birkett |first10=Michael A. |last11=Smallegange |first11=Renate C. |last12=Masiga |first12=Daniel K. |last13=Mukabana |first13=W. Richard |last14=Sauerwein |first14=Robert W. |last15=Sutherland |first15=Colin J. |display-authors=3 |date=May 2018 |title=Plasmodium -associated changes in human odor attract mosquitoes |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America |volume=115 |issue=18 |pages=E4209–E4218 |doi=10.1073/pnas.1721610115 |doi-access=free |pmc=5939094 |pmid=29666273 |bibcode=2018PNAS..115E4209R }}

Contributing to a mosquito's ability to activate search behaviours, a mosquito's visual search system includes sensitivity to wavelengths from different colours. Mosquitoes are attracted to longer wavelengths, correlated to the colours of red and orange as seen by humans, and range through the spectrum of human skin tones. In addition, they have a strong attraction to dark, high-contrast objects, because of how longer wavelengths are perceived against a lighter-coloured background.{{Cite journal |last1=Alonso San Alberto |first1=Diego |last2=Rusch |first2=Claire |last3=Zhan |first3=Yinpeng |last4=Straw |first4=Andrew D. |last5=Montell |first5=Craig |last6=Riffell |first6=Jeffrey A. |date=2022-02-04 |title=The olfactory gating of visual preferences to human skin and visible spectra in mosquitoes |journal=Nature Communications |volume=13 |issue=1 |pages=555 |doi=10.1038/s41467-022-28195-x |pmid=35121739 |pmc=8816903 |bibcode=2022NatCo..13..555A}}

File:Culex mosquito proboscis.jpg

Different species of mosquitoes have evolved different methods of identifying target hosts. Study of a domestic form and an animal-biting form of the mosquito Aedes aegypti showed that the evolution of preference for human odour is linked to increases in the expression of the olfactory receptor AaegOr4. This recognises a compound present at high levels in human odour called sulcatone. However, the malaria mosquito Anopheles gambiae also has OR4 genes strongly activated by sulcatone, yet none of them are closely related to AaegOr4, suggesting that the two species have evolved to specialise in biting humans independently.

{{further|Insect mouthparts}}

Female mosquito mouthparts are highly adapted to piercing skin and sucking blood. Males only drink sugary fluids, and have less specialized mouthparts.{{cite journal |last1=Wahid |first1=Isra |last2=Sunahara |first2=Toshihiko |last3=Mogi |first3=Motoyoshi |title=Maxillae and Mandibles of Male Mosquitoes and Female Autogenous Mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae) |journal=Journal of Medical Entomology |volume=40 |issue=2 |date=2003-03-01 |doi=10.1603/0022-2585-40.2.150 |pages=150–158 |pmid=12693842 |s2cid=41524028 }}

Externally, the most obvious feeding structure of the mosquito is the proboscis, composed of the labium, U-shaped in section like a rain gutter, which sheaths a bundle (fascicle) of six piercing mouthparts or stylets. These are two mandibles, two maxillae, the hypopharynx, and the labrum. The labium bends back into a bow when the mosquito begins to bite, staying in contact with the skin and guiding the stylets downwards. The extremely sharp tips of the labrum and maxillae are moved backwards and forwards to saw their way into the skin, with just one thousandth of the force that would be needed to penetrate the skin with a needle, resulting in a painless insertion.{{cite web |last1=Quirós |first1=Gabriela |title=WATCH: Mosquitoes Use 6 Needles To Suck Your Blood |url=https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2016/06/07/480653821/watch-mosquitoes-use-6-needles-to-suck-your-blood |publisher=NPR |access-date=13 December 2023 |date=June 7, 2016 |archive-date=3 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240103011402/https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2016/06/07/480653821/watch-mosquitoes-use-6-needles-to-suck-your-blood |url-status=live }}{{cite journal |last1=Choo |first1=Young-Moo |last2=Buss |first2=Garrison K. |last3=Tan |first3=Kaiming |last4=Leal |first4=Walter S. |title=Multitasking roles of mosquito labrum in oviposition and blood feeding |journal=Frontiers in Physiology |volume=6 |date=2015-10-29 |page=306 |pmid=26578978 |pmc=4625056 |doi=10.3389/fphys.2015.00306 |doi-access=free }}{{cite journal |last1=Zahran |first1=Nagwan |last2=Sawires |first2=Sameh |last3=Hamza |first3=Ali |title=Piercing and sucking mouth parts sensilla of irradiated mosquito, Culex pipiens (Diptera: Culicidae) with gamma radiation |journal=Scientific Reports |volume=12 |issue=1 |date=2022-10-25 |page=17833 |pmid=36284127 |pmc=9596698 |doi=10.1038/s41598-022-22348-0 |bibcode=2022NatSR..1217833Z }}

File:Evolution of mosquito mouthparts.svg|Evolution of mosquito mouthparts, with grasshopper mouthparts (shown both in situ and separately) representing a more primitive condition. All the mouthparts except the labium are stylets, formed into a fascicle or bundle.

File:Feeding mosquito, mouthparts labelled.svg|Mouthparts of a female mosquito while feeding on blood, showing the flexible labium sheath supporting the piercing and sucking tube which penetrates the host's skin

Mosquito saliva contains enzymes that aid in sugar feeding,{{cite journal |last1=Grossman |first1=G. L. |last2=James |first2=A. A. |title=The salivary glands of the vector mosquito, Aedes aegypti, express a novel member of the amylase gene family |journal=Insect Molecular Biology |volume=1 |issue=4 |pages=223–232 |year=1993 |pmid=7505701 |doi=10.1111/j.1365-2583.1993.tb00095.x |s2cid=13019630 }} and antimicrobial agents that control bacterial growth in the sugar meal.{{cite journal |last1=Rossignol |first1=P.A. |last2=Lueders |first2=A.M. |title=Bacteriolytic factor in the salivary glands of Aedes aegypti |journal=Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology. B, Comparative Biochemistry |volume=83 |issue=4 |pages=819–822 |year=1986 |pmid=3519067 |doi=10.1016/0305-0491(86)90153-7 }}

For a mosquito to obtain a blood meal, it must circumvent its vertebrate host's physiological responses. Mosquito saliva blocks the host's hemostasis system, with proteins that reduce vascular constriction, blood clotting, and platelet aggregation, to ensure the blood keeps flowing. It modulates the host's immune response via a mixture of proteins which lower angiogenesis and immunity; create inflammation;{{cite journal |last1=Valenzuela |first1=J.G. |last2=Pham |first2=V.M. |last3=Garfield |first3=M.K. |last4=Francischetti |first4=I.M.B. |last5=Ribeiro |first5=J.M.C. |title=Toward a description of the sialome of the adult female mosquito Aedes aegypti |journal=Insect Biochemistry and Molecular Biology |volume=32 |issue=9 |pages=1101–1122 |date=September 2002 |pmid=12213246 |doi=10.1016/S0965-1748(02)00047-4 |bibcode=2002IBMB...32.1101V }}{{cite journal |last1=Ribeiro |first1=J.M. |last2=Francischetti |first2=I.M. |title=Role of arthropod saliva in blood feeding: sialome and post-sialome perspectives |journal=Annual Review of Entomology |volume=48 |pages=73–88 |year=2003 |pmid=12194906 |doi=10.1146/annurev.ento.48.060402.102812 |url=https://zenodo.org/record/1234963 |access-date=2019-06-29 |archive-date=2020-08-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200804040649/https://zenodo.org/record/1234963 |url-status=live }} suppress tumor necrosis factor release from activated mast cells;{{cite journal |last1=Bissonnette |first1=Elyse Y. |last2=Rossignol |first2=Philippe A. |last3=Befus |first3=A. Dean|title=Extracts of mosquito salivary gland inhibit tumour necrosis factor alpha release from mast cells |journal=Parasite Immunology |volume=15 |issue=1 |pages=27–33 |date=January 1993 |pmid=7679483 |doi=10.1111/j.1365-3024.1993.tb00569.x }} suppress interleukin (IL)-2 and IFN-γ production;{{cite journal |last1=Cross |first1=Martin L. |last2=Cupp |first2=Eddie W. |last3=Enriquez |first3=F. Javier |title=Differential modulation of murine cellular immune responses by salivary gland extract of Aedes aegypti |journal=The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene |volume=51 |issue=5 |pages=690–696 |date=November 1994 |pmid=7985763 |doi=10.4269/ajtmh.1994.51.690 }}{{cite journal |last1=Zeidner |first1=Nordin S. |last2=Higgs |first2=Stephen |last3=Happ |first3=Christine M. |last4=Beaty |first4=Barry J. |last5=Miller |first5=Barry R. |title=Mosquito feeding modulates Th1 and Th2 cytokines in flavivirus susceptible mice: an effect mimicked by injection of sialokinins, but not demonstrated in flavivirus resistant mice |journal=Parasite Immunology |volume=21 |issue=1 |pages=35–44 |date=January 1999 |pmid=10081770 |doi=10.1046/j.1365-3024.1999.00199.x |s2cid=26774722 |url=https://zenodo.org/record/1236522 |access-date=2020-09-25 |archive-date=2022-04-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220410004355/https://zenodo.org/record/1236522 |url-status=live }} suppress T cell populations;{{cite journal |last1=Wanasen |first1=N. |last2=Nussenzveig |first2=R. H. |last3=Champagne |first3=D. E. |last4=Soong |first4=L. |last5=Higgs |first5=S.|title=Differential modulation of murine host immune response by salivary gland extracts from the mosquitoes Aedes aegypti and Culex quinquefasciatus |journal=Medical and Veterinary Entomology |volume=18 |issue=2 |pages=191–199 |date=June 2004 |pmid=15189245 |doi=10.1111/j.1365-2915.2004.00498.x |s2cid=42458052 }}{{cite journal |last1=Wasserman |first1=H. A. |last2=Singh |first2=S. |last3=Champagne |first3=D. E. |title=Saliva of the Yellow Fever mosquito, Aedes aegypti, modulates murine lymphocyte function |journal=Parasite Immunology |volume=26 |issue=6–7 |pages=295–306 |year=2004 |pmid=15541033 |doi=10.1111/j.0141-9838.2004.00712.x |s2cid=32742815 }}{{cite journal |last1=Depinay |first1=Nadya |last2=Hacini |first2=Fériel |last3=Beghdadi |first3=Walid |last4=Peronet |first4=Roger |last5=Mécheri |first5=Salaheddine |title=Mast cell-dependent down-regulation of antigen-specific immune responses by mosquito bites |journal=Journal of Immunology |volume=176 |issue=7 |pages=4141–4146 |date=April 2006 |pmid=16547250 |doi=10.4049/jimmunol.176.7.4141 |doi-access=free }} decrease expression of interferon−α/β, making virus infections more severe;{{cite journal |last1=Schneider |first1=Bradley S. |last2=Soong |first2=Lynn |last3=Zeidner |first3=Nordin S. |last4=Higgs |first4=Stephen |title=Aedes aegypti salivary gland extracts modulate anti-viral and TH1/TH2 cytokine responses to sindbis virus infection |journal=Viral Immunology |volume=17 |issue=4 |pages=565–573 |year=2004 |pmid=15671753 |doi=10.1089/vim.2004.17.565 }}{{cite journal |last1=Taylor |first1=J. L. |last2=Schoenherr |first2=C. |last3=Grossberg |first3=S. E.|title=Protection against Japanese encephalitis virus in mice and hamsters by treatment with carboxymethylacridanone, a potent interferon inducer |journal=The Journal of Infectious Diseases |volume=142 |issue=3 |pages=394–399 |date=September 1980 |pmid=6255036 |doi=10.1093/infdis/142.3.394 }} increase natural killer T cells in the blood; and decrease cytokine production.{{cite journal |last1=Vogt |first1=Megan B. |last2=Lahon |first2=Anismrita |last3=Arya |first3=Ravi P. |last4=Kneubehl |first4=Alexander R. |last5=Spencer Clinton |first5=Jennifer L. |last6=Paust |first6=Silke |last7=Rico-Hesse |first7=Rebecca |title=Mosquito saliva alone has profound effects on the human immune system |journal=PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases |volume=12 |issue=5 |pages=e0006439 |date=May 2018 |pmid=29771921 |pmc=5957326 |doi=10.1371/journal.pntd.0006439 |doi-access=free}}

File:Anopheles stephensi.jpeg

Females of many blood-feeding species need a blood meal to begin the process of egg development. A sufficiently large blood meal triggers a hormonal cascade that leads to egg development.{{cite journal |last1=Zhu |first1=J. |last2=Miura |first2=K. |last3=Dittmer |first3=N.T. |last4=Raikhel |first4=A.S. |title=AaSvp, a mosquito homolog of COUP-TF is involved in termination of vitellogenesis by repressing the 20-hydroecdysone response |journal=Journal of Insect Science |date=2002 |volume=2 |issue=17 |page=17 |pmid=15455051|pmc=405832 }} Upon completion of feeding, the mosquito withdraws her proboscis, and as the gut fills up, the stomach lining secretes a peritrophic membrane that surrounds the blood. This keeps the blood separate from anything else in the stomach. Like many Hemiptera that survive on dilute liquid diets, many adult mosquitoes excrete surplus liquid even when feeding. This permits females to accumulate a full meal of nutrient solids. The blood meal is digested over a period of several days.{{cite journal |last1=Curic |first1=Goran |last2=Hercog |first2=Rajna |last3=Vrselja |first3=Zvonimir |last4=Wagner |first4=Jasenka |title=Identification of person and quantification of human DNA recovered from mosquitoes (Culicidae) |journal=Forensic Science International: Genetics |volume=8 |issue=1 |date=2014 |doi=10.1016/j.fsigen.2013.07.011 |pages=109–112|pmid=24315597 }} Once blood is in the stomach, the midgut synthesizes protease enzymes, primarily trypsin assisted by aminopeptidase, that hydrolyze the blood proteins into free amino acids. These are used in the synthesis of vitellogenin, which in turn is made into egg yolk protein.{{cite journal |last1=Billingsley |first1=P.F. |last2=Hecker |first2=H. |title=Blood digestion in the mosquito, Anopheles stephensi Liston (Diptera: Culicidae): activity and distribution of trypsin, aminopeptidase, and alpha-glucosidase in the midgut |journal=Journal of Medical Entomology |volume=28 |issue=6 |pages=865–871 |date=November 1991 |pmid=1770523 |doi=10.1093/jmedent/28.6.865 }}

Mosquitoes have a cosmopolitan distribution, occurring in every land region except Antarctica and a few islands with polar or subpolar climates, such as Iceland, which is essentially free of mosquitoes.{{cite web |url=http://visindavefur.hi.is/svar.php?id=2166 |title=Vísindavefurinn: Af hverju lifa ekki moskítóflugur á Íslandi, fyrst þær geta lifað báðum megin á Grænlandi? |language=is |publisher=Visindavefur.hi.is |access-date=2013-10-15 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130802162121/http://visindavefur.hi.is/svar.php?id=2166 |archive-date=2013-08-02 |url-status=dead }} This absence is probably caused by Iceland's climate. Its weather is unpredictable, freezing but often warming suddenly in mid-winter, making mosquitoes emerge from pupae in diapause, and then freezing again before they can complete their life cycle.{{cite journal |last=Peterson |first=B.V. |year=1977 |journal=The Canadian Entomologist |volume=109 |issue=3 |pages=449–472 |doi=10.4039/Ent109449-3 |title=The Black Flies of Iceland (Diptera: Simuliidae) |s2cid=86752961 }}{{cite journal |last1=Gislason |first1=G.M. |author2=Gardarsson A. |year=1988 |title=Long term studies on Simulium vittatum Zett. (Diptera: Simuliidae) in the River Laxá, North Iceland, with particular reference to different methods used in assessing population changes |journal=Verb. Int. Ver. Limnol |volume=23 |issue=4 |pages=2179–2188 |doi=10.1080/03680770.1987.11899871 |bibcode=1988SILP...23.2179G }}

Eggs of temperate zone mosquitoes are more tolerant of cold than the eggs of species indigenous to warmer regions.{{cite journal |last1=Hawley |first1=W. A. |last2=Pumpuni |first2=C. B. |last3=Brady |first3=R. H. |last4=Craig |first4=G. B. |title=Overwintering survival of Aedes albopictus (Diptera: Culicidae) eggs in Indiana |journal=Journal of Medical Entomology |volume=26 |issue=2 |pages=122–129 |date=March 1989 |pmid=2709388 |doi=10.1093/jmedent/26.2.122 }}{{cite journal |last1=Hanson |first1=S.M. |last2=Craig |first2=G.B. |title=Aedes albopictus (Diptera: Culicidae) eggs: field survivorship during northern Indiana winters |journal=Journal of Medical Entomology |volume=32 |issue=5 |pages=599–604 |date=September 1995 |pmid=7473614 |doi=10.1093/jmedent/32.5.599 }} Many can tolerate subzero temperatures, while adults of some species can survive winter by sheltering in microhabitats such as buildings or hollow trees.{{cite journal |last1=Romi |first1=Roberto |last2=Severini |first2=Francesco |last3=Toma |first3=Luciano |title=Cold acclimation and overwintering of female Aedes albopictus in Roma |journal=Journal of the American Mosquito Control Association |volume=22 |issue=1 |pages=149–151 |date=March 2006 |pmid=16646341 |doi=10.2987/8756-971X(2006)22[149:CAAOOF]2.0.CO;2 |s2cid=41129725 }} In warm and humid tropical regions, some mosquito species are active for the entire year, but in temperate and cold regions they hibernate or enter diapause. Arctic or subarctic mosquitoes, like some other arctic midges in families such as Simuliidae and Ceratopogonidae may be active for only a few weeks annually as melt-water pools form on the permafrost. During that time, though, they emerge in huge numbers in some regions; a swarm may take up to 300 ml of blood per day from each animal in a caribou herd.{{cite journal |last=Fang |first=J. |title=Ecology: A world without mosquitoes |journal=Nature |volume=466 |issue=7305 |pages=432–434 |date=July 2010 |pmid=20651669 |doi=10.1038/466432a |doi-access=free }}

For a mosquito to transmit disease, there must be favorable seasonal conditions,{{Cite journal |last=Reiter |first=Paul |date=2001 |title=Climate Change and Mosquito-Borne Disease |journal=Environmental Health Perspectives |volume=109 |issue=Suppl 1 |pages=142–158 |via=EHP |doi=10.1289/ehp.01109s1141 |pmid=11250812 |pmc=1240549|bibcode=2001EnvHP.109S.141R }} primarily humidity, temperature, and precipitation.{{cite journal |last1=Bai |first1=Li |last2=Morton |first2=Lindsay Carol |last3=Liu |first3=Qiyong |title=Climate change and mosquito-borne diseases in China: a review |journal=Globalization and Health |volume=9 |page=10 |date=March 2013 |pmid=23497420 |pmc=3605364 |doi=10.1186/1744-8603-9-10 |doi-access=free }} El Niño affects the location and number of outbreaks in East Africa, Latin America, Southeast Asia and India. Climate change impacts the seasonal factors and in turn the dispersal of mosquitoes.{{cite journal |last1=Caminade |first1=Cyril |last2=McIntyre |first2=K. Marie |last3=Jones |first3=Anne E. |title=Impact of recent and future climate change on vector-borne diseases |journal=Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences |volume=1436 |issue=1 |pages=157–173 |date=January 2019 |pmid=30120891 |pmc=6378404 |doi=10.1111/nyas.13950 |bibcode=2019NYASA1436..157C }} Climate models can use historic data to recreate past outbreaks and to predict the risk of vector-borne disease, based on an area's forecasted climate.{{cite journal |last1=Tjaden |first1=Nils Benjamin |last2=Caminade |first2=Cyril |last3=Beierkuhnlein |first3=Carl |last4=Thomas |first4=Stephanie Margarete |title=Mosquito-Borne Diseases: Advances in Modelling Climate-Change Impacts |journal=Trends in Parasitology |volume=34 |issue=3 |pages=227–245 |date=March 2018 |pmid=29229233 |doi=10.1016/j.pt.2017.11.006 }}

Mosquito-borne diseases have long been most prevalent in East Africa, Latin America, Southeast Asia, and India. An emergence in Europe was observed early in the 21st century. It is predicted that by 2030, the climate of southern Great Britain will be suitable for transmission of Plasmodium vivax malaria by Anopheles mosquitoes for two months of the year, and that by 2080, the same will be true for southern Scotland.{{Cite journal |last=Baylis |first=Matthew |date=5 December 2017 |title=Potential impact of climate change on emerging vector-borne and other infections in the UK |journal=Environmental Health |volume=16 |issue=Suppl 1 |page=112 |pmc=5773876 |pmid=29219091 |doi=10.1186/s12940-017-0326-1 |bibcode=2017EnvHe..16S.112B |doi-access=free }}{{cite journal |last=Baylis |first=M. |title=Potential impact of climate change on emerging vector-borne and other infections in the UK |journal=Environmental Health |volume=16 |issue=Suppl 1 |page=112 |date=December 2017 |pmid=29219091 |pmc=5773876 |doi=10.1186/s12940-017-0326-1 |bibcode=2017EnvHe..16S.112B |doi-access=free }}

Dengue fever, too, is spreading northwards with climate change. The vector, the Asian tiger mosquito Aedes albopictus, has by 2023 established across southern Europe and as far north as much of northern France, Belgium, Holland, and both Kent and West London in England.{{cite news |last1=Horton |first1=Helena |title=Mosquito-borne diseases spreading in Europe due to climate crisis, says expert |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/apr/25/mosquito-borne-diseases-spreading-in-europe-due-to-climate-crisis-says-expert |access-date=25 April 2024 |work=The Guardian |date=25 April 2024 |archive-date=10 September 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240910225716/https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/apr/25/mosquito-borne-diseases-spreading-in-europe-due-to-climate-crisis-says-expert |url-status=live }}

Mosquito larvae are among the commonest animals in ponds, and they form an important food source for freshwater predators. Among the many aquatic insects that catch mosquito larvae are dragonfly and damselfly nymphs, whirligig beetles, and water striders. Vertebrate predators include fish such as catfish and the mosquitofish, amphibians including the spadefoot toad and the giant tree frog, freshwater turtles such as the red-eared slider, and birds such as ducks.{{Cite web |last=Beck |first=Kevin |title=What Eats Mosquitoes? |date=November 22, 2019 |url=https://sciencing.com/eats-mosquitoes-8568515.html |url-status=live |access-date=31 May 2021 |website=Sciencing |archive-date=2 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210602215704/https://sciencing.com/eats-mosquitoes-8568515.html}}

Emerging adults are consumed at the pond surface by predatory flies including Empididae and Dolichopodidae, and by spiders. Flying adults are captured by dragonflies and damselflies, by birds such as swifts and swallows, and by vertebrates including bats.

Mosquitoes are parasitised by hydrachnid mites, ciliates such as Glaucoma, microsporidians such as Thelania, and fungi including species of Saprolegniaceae and Entomophthoraceae.{{cite journal |last1=Medlock |first1=J. M. |last2=Snow |first2=K. R. |title=Natural predators and parasites of British mosquitoes–a review |journal=European Mosquito Bulletin |volume=25 |issue=1 |year=2008 |pages=1–11 |url=https://e-m-b.myspecies.info/sites/e-m-b.org/files/European_Mosquito_Bulletin_Publications811/EMB25/EMB25_1.pdf |access-date=15 December 2023 |archive-date=15 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231215100621/https://e-m-b.myspecies.info/sites/e-m-b.org/files/European_Mosquito_Bulletin_Publications811/EMB25/EMB25_1.pdf |url-status=live }}

File:Mosquito on marigold flower.JPG flower for nectar ]]

Several flowers including members of the Asteraceae, Rosaceae and Orchidaceae are pollinated by mosquitoes, which visit to obtain sugar-rich nectar. They are attracted to flowers by a range of semiochemicals such as alcohols, aldehydes, ketones, and terpenes. Mosquitoes have visited and pollinated flowers since the Cretaceous period. It is possible that plant-sucking exapted mosquitoes to blood-sucking.

{{further |Parasitism}}

Ecologically, blood-feeding mosquitoes are micropredators, small animals that feed on larger animals without immediately killing them. Evolutionary biologists see this as a form of parasitism; in Edward O. Wilson's phrase "Parasites ... are predators that eat prey in units of less than one."{{cite book |last=Wilson |first=Edward O. |author-link=E. O. Wilson |title=The Meaning of Human Existence |year=2014 |publisher=W. W. Norton & Company |isbn=978-0-87140-480-0 |page=112 |quote=Parasites, in a phrase, are predators that eat prey in units of less than one. Tolerable parasites are those that have evolved to ensure their own survival and reproduction but at the same time with minimum pain and cost to the host.}} Micropredation is one of six major evolutionarily stable strategies within parasitism. It is distinguished by leaving the host still able to reproduce, unlike the activity of parasitic castrators or parasitoids; and having multiple hosts, unlike conventional parasites.{{cite journal |last=Poulin |first=Robert |author-link=Robert Poulin (zoologist) |editor1=Rollinson, D. |editor2=Hay, S. I. |title=The Many Roads to Parasitism: A Tale of Convergence |journal=Advances in Parasitology |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9y4AlXka7t0C&pg=PA28 |year=2011 |volume=74 |publisher=Academic Press |isbn=978-0-12-385897-9 |pages=27–28 |doi=10.1016/B978-0-12-385897-9.00001-X |pmid=21295676 |url-access=subscription }}{{cite journal |last1=Poulin |first1=Robert |author1-link=Robert Poulin (zoologist) |last2=Randhawa |first2=Haseeb S. |title=Evolution of parasitism along convergent lines: from ecology to genomics |journal=Parasitology |date=February 2015 |volume=142 |issue=Suppl 1 |pages=S6–S15 |doi=10.1017/S0031182013001674 |pmc=4413784 |pmid=24229807}} {{open access}} From this perspective, mosquitoes are ectoparasites, feeding on blood from the outside of their hosts, using their piercing mouthparts, rather than entering their bodies. Unlike some other ectoparasites such as fleas and lice, mosquitoes do not remain constantly on the body of the host, but visit only to feed.

File:Culex malariager in Dominican amber.jpg mosquito infected with the malarial parasite Plasmodium dominicana, in Dominican amber of Miocene age, 15–20 million years ago{{cite journal |last=Poinar |first=George |title=Evolutionary History of Terrestrial Pathogens and Endoparasites as Revealed in Fossils and Subfossils |journal=Advances in Biology |volume=2014 |date=2014-06-12 |doi=10.1155/2014/181353 |pages=1–29 |doi-access=free }}]]

A 2023 study suggested that Libanoculex intermedius found in Lebanese amber, dating to the Barremian age of the Early Cretaceous, around 125 million years ago was the oldest known mosquito.{{Cite journal |last1=Azar |first1=Dany |last2=Nel |first2=André |last3=Huang |first3=Diying |last4=Engel |first4=Michael S. |date=December 2023 |title=The Earliest Fossil Mosquito |journal=Current Biology |volume=33 |issue=23 |pages=5240–5246.e2 |doi=10.1016/j.cub.2023.10.047 |pmid=38052162 |s2cid=265612144 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2023CBio...33E5240A }} However its identification as a mosquito is disputed, with other authors considering it to be a chaoborid fly instead.{{Cite journal |last=Harbach |first=Ralph E. |date=2024-03-12 |title=Libanoculex intermedius is not a mosquito (Diptera: Culicidae): It is a chaoborid (Chaoboridae) |url=https://mapress.com/zt/article/view/zootaxa.5424.1.9 |journal=Zootaxa |language=en |volume=5424 |issue=1 |pages=139–144 |doi=10.11646/zootaxa.5424.1.9 |pmid=38480294 |issn=1175-5334 |access-date=9 August 2024 |archive-date=9 August 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240809084423/https://mapress.com/zt/article/view/zootaxa.5424.1.9 |url-status=live }} Three other unambiguous species of Cretaceous mosquito are known. Burmaculex antiquus and Priscoculex burmanicus are known from Burmese amber from Myanmar, which dates to the earliest part of the Cenomanian age of the Late Cretaceous, around 99 million years ago.{{cite journal |last1=Borkent |first1=A. |last2=Grimaldi |first2=D.A. |year=2004 |title=The earliest fossil mosquito (Diptera: Culicidae), in Mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber |journal=Annals of the Entomological Society of America |volume=97 |issue=5 |pages=882–888 |doi=10.1603/0013-8746(2004)097[0882:TEFMDC]2.0.CO;2 |doi-access=free}}{{Cite journal |last1=Poinar |first1=George |last2=Zavortink |first2=Thomas J. |last3=Brown |first3=Alex |date=2019-01-30 |title=Priscoculex burmanicus n. gen. et sp. (Diptera: Culicidae: Anophelinae) from mid-Cretaceous Myanmar amber |journal=Historical Biology |volume=32 |issue=9 |pages=1157–1162 |doi=10.1080/08912963.2019.1570185 |s2cid=92836430}} Paleoculicis minutus, is known from Canadian amber from Alberta, Canada, which dates to the Campanian age of the Late Cretaceous, around 79 million years ago.{{cite journal |author=Poinar, G. O. |display-authors=etal |year=2000 |title=Paleoculicis minutus (Diptera: Culicidae) n. gen., n. sp., from Cretaceous Canadian amber with a summary of described fossil mosquitoes |url=http://www.geologica-acta.com/pdf/aghv3501a12.pdf |url-status=dead |journal=Acta Geológica Hispánica |volume=35 |pages=119–128 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029193407/http://www.geologica-acta.com/pdf/aghv3501a12.pdf |archive-date=2013-10-29 |access-date=2009-12-10}} P. burmanicus has been assigned to the Anophelinae, indicating that the split between this subfamily and the Culicinae took place over 99 million years ago. Molecular estimates suggest that this split occurred 197.5 million years ago, during the Early Jurassic, but that major diversification did not take place until the Cretaceous.{{Cite journal |last1=Lorenz |first1=Camila |last2=Alves |first2=João M.P. |last3=Foster |first3=Peter G. |last4=Suesdek |first4=Lincoln |last5=Sallum |first5=Maria Anice M. |date=2021-05-10 |title=Phylogeny and temporal diversification of mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae) with an emphasis on the Neotropical fauna |journal=Systematic Entomology |volume=46 |issue=4 |pages=798–811 |doi=10.1111/syen.12489 |bibcode=2021SysEn..46..798L |s2cid=236612378}}

{{further|List of mosquito genera}}

Over 3,600 species of mosquitoes in 112 genera have been described. They are traditionally divided into two subfamilies, the Anophelinae and the Culicinae, which carry different diseases. Roughly speaking, protozoal diseases like malaria are transmitted by anophelines, while viral diseases such as yellow fever and dengue fever are transmitted by culicines.{{cite journal |last1=Molina-Cruz |first1=Alvaro |last2=Lehmann |first2=Tovi |last3=Knöckel |first3=Julia |title=Could culicine mosquitoes transmit human malaria? |journal=Trends in Parasitology |volume=29 |issue=11 |date=2013 |doi=10.1016/j.pt.2013.09.003 |pages=530–537 |pmid=24140295 |pmc=10987011 }}

The name Culicidae was introduced by the German entomologist Johann Wilhelm Meigen in his seven-volume classification published in 1818–1838.{{cite book |last=Meigen |first=Johann Wilhelm |author-link=Johann Wilhelm Meigen |date=1818–1838 |title=Systematische Beschreibung der bekannten Europäischen zweiflügeligen Insekten |language=de |trans-title=Systematic description of the known European two-winged insects |location=Aachen |publisher=Friedrich Wilhelm Forstmann |volume=1–7 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/45833#page/9/mode/1up |access-date=16 December 2023 |archive-date=26 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230226175413/https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/45833#page/9/mode/1up |url-status=live }} Mosquito taxonomy was advanced in 1901 when the English entomologist Frederick Vincent Theobald published his 5-volume monograph on the Culicidae.{{cite book |last=Theobald |first=Frederick Vincent |author-link=Frederick Vincent Theobald |date=1901 |title=A Monograph of the Culicidae, or Mosquitoes |location=London |publisher=British Museum (Natural History) |volume=1 |url=https://archive.org/details/amonographculic03zoolgoog/page/n3/mode/2up |page=4}} He had been provided with mosquito specimens sent in to the British Museum (Natural History) from around the world, on the 1898 instruction of the Secretary of State for the Colonies, Joseph Chamberlain, who had written that "in view of the possible connection of Malaria with mosquitoes, it is desirable to obtain exact knowledge of the different species of mosquitoes and allied insects in the various tropical colonies. I will therefore ask you ... to have collections made of the winged insects in the Colony which bite men or animals."{{Cite journal |last1=Harbach |first1=R. E. |last2=Kitching |first2=I. |date=January 2016 |title=The phylogeny of Anophelinae revisited: inferences about the origin and classification of Anopheles (Diptera: Culicidae) |journal=Zoologica Scripta |volume=45 |pages=34–47 |url=https://nhm.openrepository.com/handle/10141/612216 |doi=10.1111/zsc.12137 |hdl=10141/612216 |s2cid=46364692 |hdl-access=free |access-date=16 December 2023 |archive-date=10 September 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240910225816/https://nhm.openrepository.com/handle/10141/612216 |url-status=live }}

Mosquitoes are members of a family of the true flies (order Diptera): the Culicidae (from the Latin {{lang|la|culex}}, genitive {{lang|la|culicis}}, meaning "midge" or "gnat").{{cite book |last=Jaeger |first=Edmund C. |author-link=Edmund Jaeger |title=A Source-Book of Biological Names and Terms |publisher=Thomas |location=Springfield, Ill |year=1959 }} They are members of the infraorder Culicomorpha and superfamily Culicoidea. The phylogenetic tree is based on the FLYTREE project.{{cite web |last1=Yeates |first1=David K. |last2=Meier |first2=Rudolf |last3=Wiegmann |first3=Brian |title=Phylogeny of True Flies (Diptera): A 250 Million Year Old Success Story in Terrestrial Diversification |url=http://www.inhs.illinois.edu/research/flytree/flyphylogeny/ |website=Flytree |publisher=Illinois Natural History Survey |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151228210535/http://inhs.illinois.edu/research/flytree/flyphylogeny/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=28 December 2015 |access-date=24 May 2016}}{{cite journal |last1=Yeates |first1=David K. |last2=Weigmann |first2=Brian M. |last3=Courtney |first3=Greg W. |last4=Meier |first4=Rudolf |last5=Lambkins |first5=Christine |last6=Pape |first6=Thomas |title=Phylogeny and systematics of Diptera: Two decades of progress and prospects |year=2007 |journal=Zootaxa |volume=1668 |pages=565–590 |doi=10.11646/zootaxa.1668.1.27 }}

{{clade|style=font-size:100%;line-height:110%;

|label1=Diptera

|sublabel1= (true flies)

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|1=Ptychopteromorpha (phantom and primitive crane-flies) 70px

|label2=Culicomorpha

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|1=Chironomidae (non-biting midges) 70px

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|1=Simulioidea (blackflies and biting midges) 60px

|label2=Culicoidea

|2={{clade

|1=Dixidae (meniscus midges) 70px

|2={{clade

|1=Corethrellidae (frog-biting midges)

|2={{clade

|1=Chaoboridae (phantom midges) 60px

|2=Culicidae 100px

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|2={{clade

|1=other midges and gnats 70px

|2=all other flies, inc. Brachycera 70px

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The two subfamilies of mosquitoes are Anophelinae, containing three genera and approximately 430 species, and Culicinae, which contains 11 tribes, 108 genera and 3,046 species. Kyanne Reidenbach and colleagues analysed mosquito phylogenetics in 2009, using both nuclear DNA and morphology of 26 species. They note that Anophelinae is confirmed to be rather basal, but that the deeper parts of the tree are not well resolved.{{cite journal |last1=Reidenbach |first1=Kyanne R. |last2=Cook |first2=Shelley |last3=Bertone |first3=Matthew A. |last4=Harbach |first4=Ralph E. |last5=Wiegmann |first5=Brian M. |last6=Besansky |first6=Nora J. |title=Phylogenetic analysis and temporal diversification of mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae) based on nuclear genes and morphology |journal=BMC Evolutionary Biology |volume=9 |issue=1 |date=2009 |page=298|pmid=20028549 |pmc=2805638 |doi=10.1186/1471-2148-9-298 |bibcode=2009BMCEE...9..298R |doi-access=free }}

{{clade|style=font-size:100%;line-height:110%;

|label1=Culicidae

|1={{clade

|1=basal spp.

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|label1=Anophelinae

|1=125px

|label2=Culicinae

|2={{clade

|1=other spp.

|2={{clade

|1=Aedini 125px

|2={{clade

|1=other spp.

|2=Sabethini 125px

}}

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}}

File:Anopheles albimanus mosquito.jpg feeding on a human arm. As mosquitoes are the only vectors of malaria, controlling them reduces its incidence.]]

{{Main|Mosquito-borne disease}}

Mosquitoes are vectors for many disease-causing microorganisms including bacteria, viruses, and protozoan parasites. Nearly 700 million people acquire a mosquito-borne illness each year, resulting in over 725,000 deaths.{{cite web |title=Mosquito as Deadly Menace |url=https://www.pfizer.com/news/articles/mosquito_as_deadly_menace#.Yweo2_DM88I.link |publisher=Pfizer |access-date=10 December 2023 |archive-date=25 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220825170028/https://www.pfizer.com/news/articles/mosquito_as_deadly_menace#.Yweo2_DM88I.link |url-status=live }} Common mosquito-borne viral diseases include yellow fever{{cite web |title=Yellow fever Fact sheet N°100 |url=https://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs100/en/ |publisher=World Health Organization |access-date=23 February 2014 |date=May 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140219011908/http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs100/en/ |archive-date=19 February 2014}} and dengue fever transmitted mostly by Aedes aegypti.{{cite book |url=http://whqlibdoc.who.int/publications/2009/9789241547871_eng.pdf |title=Dengue Guidelines for Diagnosis, Treatment, Prevention and Control |publisher=World Health Organization |year=2009 |isbn=978-92-4-154787-1 |access-date=2013-08-13 |archive-date=2012-10-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121017230435/http://whqlibdoc.who.int/publications/2009/9789241547871_eng.pdf |url-status=live}} Parasitic diseases transmitted by mosquitoes include malaria and lymphatic filariasis. The Plasmodium parasites that cause malaria are carried by female Anopheles mosquitoes. Lymphatic filariasis, the main cause of elephantiasis, is spread by a wide variety of mosquitoes.{{cite web |title=Lymphatic Filariasis |url=https://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs102/en/ |publisher=World Health Organisation |access-date=24 August 2011 |archive-date=5 May 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160505163529/http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs102/en/|url-status=live}} A bacterial disease spread by Culex and Culiseta mosquitoes is tularemia.{{cite journal |last1=Muslu |first1=H. |last2=Kurt |first2=O. |last3=Özbilgin |first3=A. |title=[Evaluation of mosquito species (Diptera: Culicidae) identified in Manisa province according to their breeding sites and seasonal differences] |language=tr |journal=Turkiye Parazitolojii Dergisi |volume=35 |issue=2 |pages=100–104 |year=2011 |pmid=21776596 |doi=10.5152/tpd.2011.25 |doi-access=free }}

{{main|Mosquito control}}

File:Mosquito Netting.jpg

Many measures have been tried for mosquito control, including the elimination of breeding places, exclusion via window screens and mosquito nets, biological control with parasites such as fungi{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/10/science/10mosquito.html |title=Fungus Fatal to Mosquito May Aid Global War on Malaria |date=10 June 2005 |work=The New York Times |access-date=19 February 2017 |archive-date=9 May 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150509040906/http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/10/science/10mosquito.html |url-status=live}}{{cite journal |last=Kramer |first=J.P. |title=Entomophthora culicis (Zygomycetes, Entomophthorales) as a pathogen of adultaedes aegypti (diptera, culicidae) |journal=Aquatic Insects |volume=4 |issue=2 |pages=73–79 |year=1982 |doi=10.1080/01650428209361085 |bibcode=1982AqIns...4...73K }} and nematodes,{{cite journal |last1=Shamseldean |first1=M.M. |last2=Platzer |first2=E.G. |title=Romanomermis culicivorax: penetration of larval mosquitoes |journal=Journal of Invertebrate Pathology |volume=54 |issue=2 |pages=191–199 |date=September 1989 |pmid=2570111 |doi=10.1016/0022-2011(89)90028-1 |bibcode=1989JInvP..54..191S }} or predators such as fish,{{cite journal |last=Krumholz |first=Louis A. |jstor=1948627 |title=Reproduction in the Western Mosquitofish, Gambusia affinis affinis (Baird & Girard), and Its Use in Mosquito Control |journal=Ecological Monographs |volume=18 |issue=1 |year=1948 |pages=1–43 |doi=10.2307/1948627 |bibcode=1948EcoM...18....1K }}{{cite book |chapter-url=http://www.idrc.ca/en/ev-27870-201-1-DO_TOPIC.html |chapter=Part III: Interactions - 31. A Comparative Study of the Ability of Fish to Catch Mosquito Larva |title=Rice-fish culture in China |isbn=978-1-55250-313-3 |year=1995 |publisher=International Development Research Centre |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110609010556/https://www.idrc.ca/en/ev-27870-201-1-DO_TOPIC.html |archive-date=2011-06-09 |first1=Wang |last1=Jianguo |first2=Ni |last2=Dashu |editor1-first=Kenneth T. |editor1-last=MacKay}}{{cite journal |last=Fradin |first=M.S. |title=Mosquitoes and mosquito repellents: a clinician's guide |journal=Annals of Internal Medicine |volume=128 |issue=11 |pages=931–940 |date=June 1998 |pmid=9634433 |doi=10.7326/0003-4819-128-11-199806010-00013 |citeseerx=10.1.1.691.2193 |s2cid=35046348 }} copepods,{{cite journal |last1=Marten |first1=G.G. |last2=Reid |first2=J.W. |title=Cyclopoid copepods |journal=Journal of the American Mosquito Control Association |volume=23 |issue=2 Suppl |pages=65–92 |year=2007 |pmid=17853599 |doi=10.2987/8756-971X(2007)23[65:CC]2.0.CO;2 |s2cid=7645668 }} dragonfly nymphs and adults, and some species of lizard and gecko.{{cite journal |last1=Canyon |first1=D.V. |last2=Hii |first2=J.L. |title=The gecko: an environmentally friendly biological agent for mosquito control |journal=Medical and Veterinary Entomology |volume=11 |issue=4 |pages=319–323 |date=October 1997 |pmid=9430109 |doi=10.1111/j.1365-2915.1997.tb00416.x |s2cid=26987818 }} Another approach is to introduce large numbers of sterile males.{{cite news |last=Carpenter |first=Jennifer |title=Spermless mosquitoes hold promise to stop malaria |publisher=BBC |quote=Scientists have created spermless mosquitoes in an effort to curb the spread of malaria. |date=8 August 2011 |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-14422440 |access-date=5 August 2011 |archive-date=9 August 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110809002749/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-14422440 |url-status=live }} Genetic modification methods including cytoplasmic incompatibility, chromosomal translocations, sex distortion and gene replacement, solutions seen as inexpensive and not subject to vector resistance, have been explored.Webb, Jonathan (10 June 2014) [https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-27765974 GM lab mosquitoes may aid malaria fight] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220816191930/https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-27765974 |date=2022-08-16 }}. BBC. Control of disease-carrying mosquitoes using gene drives has been proposed.{{cite journal |last1=Kyrou |first1=Kyros Kyrou |display-authors=etal |title=A CRISPR–Cas9 gene drive targeting doublesex causes complete population suppression in caged Anopheles gambiae mosquitoes |journal=Nature Biotechnology |volume=36 |issue=11 |pages=1062–1066 |date=Sep 24, 2018 |doi=10.1038/nbt.4245 |pmid=30247490 |pmc=6871539 |url=http://spiral.imperial.ac.uk/bitstream/10044/1/64952/11/nbt.4245.pdf |access-date=September 23, 2019 |archive-date=April 29, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190429023635/http://spiral.imperial.ac.uk/bitstream/10044/1/64952/11/nbt.4245.pdf |url-status=live}}{{cite journal |last1=Michael Le Page |title=Gene tool could halt malaria spread |journal=New Scientist |date=Sep 29, 2018 |url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg23931974-000-evolution-defying-dna-makes-mosquitoes-infertile-by-changing-their-sex |access-date=November 2, 2018 |archive-date=November 12, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181112061002/https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg23931974-000-evolution-defying-dna-makes-mosquitoes-infertile-by-changing-their-sex/ |url-status=live }}

{{main|Insect repellent}}

File:Insect repellents in Finnish store.jpg (including a mosquito coil) in a Finnish store]]

Insect repellents are applied on skin and give short-term protection against mosquito bites. The chemical DEET repels some mosquitoes and other insects.{{cite journal |last1=Syed |first1=Z. |last2=Leal |first2=W.S. |title=Mosquitoes smell and avoid the insect repellent DEET |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America |volume=105 |issue=36 |pages=13598–13603 |date=September 2008 |pmid=18711137 |pmc=2518096 |doi=10.1073/pnas.0805312105 |doi-access=free }} Some CDC-recommended repellents are picaridin, eucalyptus oil (PMD), and ethyl butylacetylaminopropionate (IR3535).{{cite web |publisher=Centers for Disease Control and Prevention |year=2009 |title=Updated Information regarding Insect Repellents |url=https://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/westnile/repellentupdates.htm |access-date=2017-09-10 |archive-date=2013-05-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130512034920/http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/westnile/repellentupdates.htm |url-status=live }} Pyrethrum (from Chrysanthemum species, particularly C. cinerariifolium and C. coccineum) is an effective plant-based repellent.Nuwer, Rachel, [https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/natural-mosquito-repellents-powers-finally-decoded/ Natural Mosquito Repellent's Powers Finally Decoded] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210812180532/https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/natural-mosquito-repellents-powers-finally-decoded/ |date=2021-08-12 }}, Scientific American 325, 2, 23 (August 2021) Electronic insect repellent devices that produce ultrasounds intended to keep away insects (and mosquitoes) are marketed. No EPA or university study has shown that these devices prevent humans from being bitten by a mosquito.{{cite web |url=http://www.evidenceaid.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Electronic_mosquito_repellents_for_preventing_mosquito_bites_and_malaria_infection.pdf |title=Electronic mosquito repellents for preventing mosquito bites and malaria infection |access-date=2018-09-19 |archive-date=2017-08-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170808175758/http://www.evidenceaid.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Electronic_mosquito_repellents_for_preventing_mosquito_bites_and_malaria_infection.pdf |url-status=live }}

{{further|Mosquito bite allergies}}

Mosquito bites lead to a variety of skin reactions and more seriously to mosquito bite allergies.{{cite journal |last1=Sawada |first1=Akihisa |last2=Inoue |first2=Masami |last3=Kawa |first3=Keisei |title=How we treat chronic active Epstein–Barr virus infection |journal=International Journal of Hematology |volume=105 |issue=4 |date=2017 |doi=10.1007/s12185-017-2192-6 |pages=406–418 |pmid=28210942 |s2cid=35297787 }} Such hypersensitivity to mosquito bites is an excessive reaction to mosquito saliva proteins.{{cite journal |last=Juckett |first=G. |title=Arthropod bites |journal=American Family Physician |volume=88 |issue=12 |pages=841–847 |date=December 2013 |pmid=24364549 }} Numerous species of mosquito can trigger such reactions, including Aedes aegypti, A. vexans, A. albopictus, Anopheles sinensis, Culex pipiens,{{cite journal |last1=Tatsuno |first1=Kazuki |last2=Fujiyama |first2=Toshiharu |last3=Matsuoka |first3=Hiroyuki |last4=Shimauchi |first4=Takatoshi |last5=Ito |first5=Taisuke |last6=Tokura |first6=Yoshiki |title=Clinical categories of exaggerated skin reactions to mosquito bites and their pathophysiology |journal=Journal of Dermatological Science |volume=82 |issue=3 |date=2016 |doi=10.1016/j.jdermsci.2016.04.010 |pages=145–152 |pmid=27177994 }} Aedes communis, Anopheles stephensi,{{cite journal |last1=Peng |first1=Z. |last2=Simons |first2=F.E. |title=Advances in mosquito allergy |journal=Current Opinion in Allergy and Clinical Immunology |volume=7 |issue=4 |pages=350–354 |date=August 2007 |pmid=17620829 |doi=10.1097/ACI.0b013e328259c313 |s2cid=45260523 }} C. quinquefasciatus, C. tritaeniorhynchus,{{cite journal |last=Asada |first=H. |title=Hypersensitivity to mosquito bites: a unique pathogenic mechanism linking Epstein-Barr virus infection, allergy and oncogenesis |journal=Journal of Dermatological Science |volume=45 |issue=3 |pages=153–160 |date=March 2007 |pmid=17169531 |doi=10.1016/j.jdermsci.2006.11.002 }} and Ochlerotatus triseriatus.{{cite journal |last1=Crisp |first1=H.C. |last2=Johnson |first2=K.S. |title=Mosquito allergy |journal=Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology |volume=110 |issue=2 |pages=65–69 |date=February 2013 |pmid=23352522 |doi=10.1016/j.anai.2012.07.023 }} Cross-reactivity between salivary proteins of different mosquitoes implies that allergic responses may be caused by virtually any mosquito species.{{cite journal |last1=Singh |first1=S. |last2=Mann |first2=B.K. |title=Insect bite reactions |journal=Indian Journal of Dermatology, Venereology and Leprology |volume=79 |issue=2 |pages=151–164 |date=2013 |pmid=23442453 |doi=10.4103/0378-6323.107629 |doi-access=free }} Treatment can be with anti-itch medications, including some taken orally, such as diphenhydramine, or applied to the skin like antihistamines or corticosteroids such as hydrocortisone. Aqueous ammonia (3.6%) also provides relief.{{cite journal |last1=Zhai |first1=Hongbo |last2=Packman |first2=Elias W. |last3=Maiback |first3=Howard I. |title=Effectiveness of Ammonium Solution in Relieving Type I Mosquito Bite Symptoms: A Double-blind, Placebo-controlled Study |journal=Acta Dermato-Venereologica |date=21 July 1998 |volume=78 |issue=4 |pages=297–298 |doi=10.1080/000155598441918|pmid=9689301 |doi-access=free }} Both topical heat{{cite journal |last1=Müller |first1=C. |last2=Großjohann |first2=B. |last3=Fischer |first3=L. |title=The use of concentrated heat after insect bites/stings as an alternative to reduce swelling, pain, and pruritus: an open cohort-study at German beaches and bathing-lakes |journal=Clinical, Cosmetic and Investigational Dermatology |volume=4 |pages=191–196 |date=2011-12-15 |pmid=22253544 |pmc=3257884 |doi=10.2147/CCID.S27825 |doi-access=free }} and cold may be useful as treatments.{{Cite web |url=https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/insect-bites-and-stings/treatment/ |title=Treatment of Insect bites and stings |website=nhs.uk |access-date=2018-10-31 |date=2017-10-19 |archive-date=2018-10-31 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181031173837/https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/insect-bites-and-stings/treatment/ |url-status=live }}

File:Rackham-gnat and bull.jpg's illustration of the fable of "The Bull and the Mosquito", 1912]]

Ancient Greek beast fables including "The Elephant and the Mosquito" and "The Bull and the Mosquito", with the general moral that the large beast does not even notice the small one, derive ultimately from Mesopotamia.{{cite book |last=Adrados |first=Francisco Rodríguez |author-link=Francisco Rodríguez Adrados |title=History of the Graeco-Latin Fable |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=093Gl8KEktMC&pg=PA324 |year=1999 |publisher=Brill Publishers |isbn=978-90-04-11454-8 |page=324 |access-date=2016-02-18 |archive-date=2016-05-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160528074423/https://books.google.com/books?id=093Gl8KEktMC&pg=PA324 |url-status=live }}

The peoples of Siberia have origin myths surrounding the mosquito. One Ostiak myth tells of a man-eating giant, Punegusse, who is killed by a hero but will not stay dead. The hero eventually burns the giant, but the ashes of the fire become mosquitoes that continue to plague mankind. Other myths from the Yakuts, Goldes (Nanai people), and Samoyed have the insect arising from the ashes or fragments of some giant creature or demon. Similar tales found in Native North American myth, with the mosquito arising from the ashes of a man-eater, suggest a common origin. The Tatars of the Altai had a variant of the same myth, involving the fragments of the dead giant, Andalma-Muus, becoming mosquitoes and other insects.{{citation |volume=4 |year=1927 |first=Uno |last=Holmberg |author-link=Uno Holmberg |title=Finno-Ugric and Siberian |url=https://archive.org/details/mythologyofallra41gray |work=The Mythology of All Races |at=IX. "The Origin of the Mosquito", p.386 |publisher=Marshall Jones Company }}

Lafcadio Hearn tells that in Japan, mosquitoes are seen as reincarnations of the dead, condemned by the errors of their former lives to the condition of Jiki-ketsu-gaki, or "blood-drinking pretas".{{cite book |last=Hearn |first=Lafcadio |author-link=Lafcadio Hearn |chapter=Mosquitoes |title=Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things |title-link=Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things |publisher=Dover Publications |orig-year=1968 |year=2020 |isbn=978-1420967517 |pages=72–74}}

File:Winsor McCay (1912) How a Mosquito Operates.webm

Winsor McCay's 1912 film How a Mosquito Operates was one of the earliest works of animation. It has been described as far ahead of its time in technical quality.{{cite book |last=Webster |first=Chris |title=Action Analysis for Animators |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jylUYRFfcywC |year=2012 |publisher=Focal Press |isbn=978-0-240-81218-2 |access-date=2022-09-04 |archive-date=2021-11-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211104181628/https://books.google.com/books?id=jylUYRFfcywC |url-status=live}} It depicts a giant mosquito tormenting a sleeping man.{{cite book |last=Canemaker |first=John |author-link=John Canemaker |title=Winsor McCay: His Life and Art |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vs82AQAAIAAJ |year=2005 |publisher=Abrams Books |isbn=978-0-8109-5941-5 |page=165 }}

Twelve ships of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS Mosquito or the archaic form of the name, HMS Musquito.{{Cite Colledge2006}}, "Mosquito" and "Musquito".

The de Havilland Mosquito was a high-speed aircraft manufactured between 1940 and 1950, and used in many roles.{{cite web |title=De Havilland Mosquito |url=http://www.aviation-history.com/dehavilland/mosquito.html |publisher=The Aviation History Online Museum |access-date=21 November 2015 |archive-date=11 January 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170111050938/http://www.aviation-history.com/dehavilland/mosquito.html |url-status=live }}

The Russian city of Berezniki annually celebrates its mosquitoes from the 17th of July to the 20th in a "most delicious girl" competition. In the competition, women stand for 20 minutes in their shorts and vests, and the one who receives the most bites wins.{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-news-from-elsewhere-33525015 |title=Russia: Mosquitoes honoured at annual festival |work=BBC News |date=July 14, 2015}}

{{reflist}}

• {{cite book |last=Winegard |first=Timothy Charles |title=The mosquito: a human history of our deadliest predator |isbn=978-1524743413 |oclc=1111638283 |year=2019 |publisher=Penguin Random House |ref=none}}

{{Commons category}}

• {{wikiquote-inline|Mosquitoes}}
• [https://fmel.ifas.ufl.edu/mosquito-guide/ Mosquito at IFAS]
• {{Internet Archive film clip|id=life_cycle_of_the_mosquito|description= describing The Life Cycle of the Mosquito}}
• [https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Parasitic_Insects,_Mites_and_Ticks:_Genera_of_Medical_and_Veterinary_Importance/Mosquitoes_and_similar Parasitic Insects, Mites and Ticks: Genera of Medical and Veterinary Importance] Wikibooks

{{Diptera|1}}

{{Taxonbar|from=Q7367}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mosquito}}

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Category:Insect vectors of human pathogens

Category:Articles containing video clips

Category:Ectoparasites

Category:Extant Jurassic first appearances

Category:Hematophages

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Category:Insects in culture

Category:Aquatic insects

Category:Hazards of outdoor recreation