Mosquito
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Mosquitos | ||||||||||
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![]() Anopheles cf. gambiae
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Conservation status | ||||||||||
Secure
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Scientific classification | ||||||||||
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Diversity | ||||||||||
41 genera |
A mosquito is an insect. They are in the Fly order, Diptera. Mosquitoes are thin and small, usually smaller than 15 mm (0.6 inches).
Mosquitoes have been around for 170 million years. They used to be a lot bigger than they are now.
Mosquitoes eat mainly nectar. Female mosquitoes bite people and animals and suck their blood. They need the blood to give them protein so they can make eggs. The spot that the mosquito bites gets big, turns red, and itches. Mosquito bites cause sicknesses like malaria.
Mosquitoes, like butterflies, go through metamorphosis, meaning that they change forms. There are four forms that they go through; egg, larva, pupa, and adult. They usually lay their eggs in water that is very still. The larva breathe air through their tail.
Mosquito bites can spread yellow fever, malaria and other diseases. Scientists have said that AIDS is not spread by mosquitoes.