Mosquitoes are a group of about 3,500 species of small insects that are flies of biological order Diptera. Within Diptera they constitute the family Culicidae which is extracted from the Latin word - culex which means gnat. The word mosquito is formed by mosca and diminutive -ito which is Spanish for "little fly". Mosquitoes have a slender segmented body, elongated mouthparts, one pair of wings, one pair of halteres and three pairs of long hair-like legs. The life cycle of a mosquito consists of egg, larva, pupa, and adult stages. Eggs are laid on the water surface which further hatch into motile larvae that feed on organic material such as aquatic algae. The adult females of most species have tube-like mouth parts which are known as proboscis that helps them to pierce the skin of a host and feed on blood, which contains iron and protein needed to produce eggs. Thousands of mosquito species feed on the blood of various hosts, mainly vertebrates, including mammals, reptiles, birds, amphibians, and some fish along with some invertebrates, primarily other arthropods. The loss of blood caused due to mosquito bite is seldom of any importance to the host. The mosquito's saliva is transferred to the host during the bite which causes an itchy rash. Moreover, these mosquitoes can also ingest pathogens while biting and transmit them to future hosts. Mosquitoes are, thus, the bearer of diseases such as malaria, yellow fever, dengue fever, Chikungunya, Zika, West Nile, filariasis and other arboviruses. Mosquitoes are responsible for the deaths of more people than any other animal taxon: over 700,000 each year and as many as half of the people who have ever lived.
In this sub category you can download free PNG images: Mosquito Insects. In this category "Mosquito" we have 14 free PNG images with transparent background.
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