Mosquito - Natural History

This is a mosquito belonging to the Culicidae family. It weighs about 2 to 2.5 milligrams. That is about the weight of a pinhead. All the mosquito families belong to the insect order called Diptera, which includes flies, mosquitoes, midges, and gnats.
One of the most distinctive features of the adult mosquito is the single pair of wings.
Mosquitoes are well-known for their role in spreading diseases, such as the West Nile virus. They are annoying pests to humans, livestock, birds and other vertebrate animals.
Female adult mosquitoes need a diet of blood so they can produce eggs. They pierce the skin of a vertebrate animal and suck the blood into their abdomen through their proboscis. They find prey by using their eyes, by detecting heat from animal and human bodies, by sensing light, and by attraction to certain chemicals.
Male adult mosquitoes have short mouthparts and eat plant nectar. Males do not feed on blood.
Mosquito larvae are filter feeders. They strain small particles of organic matter, such as bacteria and other microorganisms from the water.
Mosquito larvae, pupae, and adults, because of their high numbers, are important food for fish, birds and invertebrate populations that live in their ecosystems.

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