mosquito, musquito (qu as k), muskit to

[Sp. mosquito a little gnat; dim in. of mosca; Lat. musca a fly; Port. mosquito: Fr. moustique. Entom.: The popular name of various two-winged insects, having a large proboscis, with which they attack man, sucking his blood. They belong chiefly to the genus Culex, or at least the family Culicide; though Humboldtsays that those of South America are species of Simulium (q.v.). The mosquito of the West Indies and parts of America is Culex mosquito . Mosquitoes abound also in the tropical parts of the Eastern World, and are troub'esome, too, in the Polar Regions. They so much resemble each other in ap IMG:content-1417.png:[ocr errors] Mosquito. pearance and coloring that the number of species and their geographical distribution have not been perfectly determined. The male of the mosquito feeds on plant-juices; it is the female which attacks man. [CULEX, CULICIDE.]