Mosquitoes are insects classified in Diptera order; genera including Anopheles, Culex, Psorophora, Ochlerotatus, Aedes, Sabethes, Wyeomyia, Culiseta, and Haemagoggus for a total of about 35 genera that encompass 2700 species. The mosquito has two scaly wings, a slim body, and six feet long; intercultural species vary but rarely exceed 15 mm. In English, the mosquitoes are known as "Mosquito", derived from a word in Spanish or Portuguese which means small flies. The use of the word Mosquito dates back to 1583. In the United Kingdom the mosquitoes are known as gnats.
In female mosquitoes, the mouth forms long proboscis to penetrate the skin of a mammal (or in some cases birds or reptiles and amphibians) to suck blood. Female mosquitoes require protein for egg formation and since the mosquito diet consists of honey and fruit juice, which does not contain protein, most female mosquitoes need to suck blood to get the required protein. Male mosquitoes are different from female mosquitoes, with parts of the mouth unsuitable to suck blood. Somewhat complicated female mosquitoes from one genus, Toxorhynchites, never suck blood. These large mosquito larvae are predators of other mosquito larvae.
