OFFICE OF MOSQUITO CONTROL

Mosquitoes are insects belonging to the order Diptera, the True Flies. Like all True Flies, they have two wings, but unlike other flies, their wings have scales and their mouthparts (in female mosquitoes) form a long piercing-sucking proboscis. Males differ from females by having feathery antennae and mouthparts not suitable for piercing skin. Nectar is their principal food source.

There are over 2500 different species of mosquitoes throughout the world, of which 150 species occur in the United States and 73 species occur in Florida.

Each of the species has a Latin scientific name, such as Culex tarsalis. Culex is the "generic" name of a group of closely related mosquitoes and tarsalis is the "species" name which represents a group of individuals that are similar in structure and physiology and capable of interbreeding. Some species have what are called "common names" as well as scientific names, such as Aedes sollicitans, the "Black salt marsh mosquito." These names are used in a descriptive manner so that the name tells something about this particular mosquito.

The Life Cycle of the Mosquito

Eggs are laid on the water surface or where later flooding will allow the emergence of LARVAE which grow rapidly to PUPAE in which wings, legs, and beak develop that will be needed by the ADULT which returns to the water to lay EGGS and start the cycle all over again.

The Name "Mosquito"

The Spanish called the mosquitoes, "musketas," and the native Hispanic Americans called them "zancudos." "Mosquito" is a Spanish or Portuguese word meaning "little fly" while "zancudos," a Spanish word, means "long-legged." The use of the word "mosquito" is apparently of North American origin and dates back to about 1583.

In Europe, mosquitoes were called "gnats" by the English, "Les moucherons" or "Les cousins" by French writers, and the Germans used the name "Stechmucken" or "Schnacke." In Scandanavian countries mosquitoes were called by a variety of names including "myg" and "myyga" while the Greeks called them "konopus." In 300 B.C., Aristotle referred to mosquitoes as "empis" in his "Historia Animalium" where he documented their life cycle and metamorphic abilities. Modern writers used the name Culex and it is retained today as the name of a mosquito genus.

What is the correct plural form of the word mosquito? In Spanish it would be "mosquitos", but in English "mosquitoes" (with the "e") is correct.

Mosquitoes can be an annoying, serious problem in man's domain. They interfere with work and spoil hours of leisure time. Their attacks on farm animals can cause loss of weight and decreased milk production. Some mosquitoes are capable of transmitting diseases such as malaria, yellow fever, dengue, filariasus and encephalitis (SLE, WEE, LAC, JE, EEE and West Nile virus (WNV)) to humans and animals.

Source: Tom Floore, American Mosquito Control Association