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'''Mosquitoes''' (alternate spelling ''"mosquitos''") are a group of about 3500 [[species]] of small [[insect]]s that are flies ([[Order (biology)|order]] ''[[Diptera]]''). Within ''Diptera'', they constitute the [[Family (biology)|family]] ''Culicidae'' (from the Latin ''culex'' meaning "gnat"). The word "mosquito" (formed by ''mosca'' and [[diminutive]] ''-ito'')<ref>{{cite web |url=http://dle.rae.es/?id=PuiMZGa |title=mosquito |publisher=[[Real Academia Española]] |access-date=24 July 2016}}</ref> is [[Spanish language|Spanish]] for "little [[fly]]".<ref name="isbn0-19-861271-0">{{cite book |author=Brown, Lesley |title=The New Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles |publisher=Clarendon |location=Oxford [Eng.] |year=1993 |isbn=978-0-19-861271-1 |url=https://archive.org/details/newshorteroxford00lesl }}</ref> Mosquitoes have a slender ,segmented body, one pair of wings, three pairs of long, hair-like legs, feathery antennae, and elongated mouthparts.
 
Mosquitoes first appeared about 226 million years ago. The earliest [[fossil]]s of primitive mosquitoes are over 90 million years old; fossils similar to modern mosquitoes, are 79 million years old; fossils identical to modern mosquitoes, are 46 million years old.
 
TheTheir life cyclelifecycle consists of [[egg]], [[larva]]l, [[pupa]]l and [[adult]] stages. Eggs are laid on the water surface; they hatch into motile larvae that feed on aquatic [[algae]] and [[wikt:organic|organic]] material. The female of most species has tube-like mouthparts (called a [[proboscis]]) that can pierce the skin of a [[biology|host]] (colloquially but incorrectly referred to as a "bite") and imbibe [[Hematophagy|blood]], which contains [[protein]] and [[iron]] needed to produce [[egg]]s. Thousands of mosquito [[species]] feed on the blood of various hosts ⁠— [[vertebrate]]s, including [[mammals]], [[bird]]s, [[reptile]]s, [[amphibian]]s, and some [[fish]]; along with some [[invertebrate]]s, primarily other [[arthropod]]s. This loss of blood is seldom of any importance to the host.
 
The mosquito's [[saliva]] is transferred to the host during the bite, and can cause an itchy rash. In addition, many species can ingest [[pathogen]]s while biting, and transmit them to future hosts. In this way, mosquitoes are important [[Vector (epidemiology)|vector]]s of diseases such as [[malaria]], [[yellow fever]], [[Chikungunya]], [[West Nile virus|West Nile]], [[dengue fever]], [[filariasis]], [[Zika virus|Zika]] and other [[arboviruses]]. By transmitting diseases, mosquitoes cause the deaths of more people than any other animal taxon: over 700,000 each year<ref name="mmca-b">{{cite web |title=Mosquitoes of Michigan -Their Biology and Control |url=http://www.mimosq.org/mosquitobiology/mosquitobiology.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130330125526/http://www.mimosq.org/mosquitobiology/mosquitobiology.htm |dead-url=yes |archive-date=2013-03-30 |publisher=Michigan Mosquito Control Organization |year=2013 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.gatesnotes.com/Health/Most-Lethal-Animal-Mosquito-Week |title=The Deadliest Animal in the World |first=Bill |last=Gates }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Would it be wrong to eradicate mosquitoes? – BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-35408835|access-date=2016-02-01|language=en-GB|date=2016-01-28|last1=Bates|first1=Claire}}</ref> and as many as half of the people who have ever lived.{{sfn|Winegard|2019}}
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