Editing Mosquito (section)

=== Adult ===

Mosquitoes have one pair of wings, with distinct scales on the surface. Their wings are long and narrow, while the legs are long and thin. The body, usually grey or black, is slender, and typically 3–6&nbsp;mm long. When at rest, mosquitoes hold their first pair of legs outwards, whereas the somewhat similar [[Chironomidae|Chironomid]] midges hold these legs forwards.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://nature.mdc.mo.gov/discover-nature/field-guide/midges |title=Midges |website=MDC Discover Nature |access-date=2019-11-19 |archive-date=2019-10-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191026055541/https://nature.mdc.mo.gov/discover-nature/field-guide/midges |url-status=live}}</ref> ''[[Anopheles]]'' mosquitoes can fly for up to four hours continuously at {{cvt|1|to|2|km/h}},<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kaufmann |first1=C. |last2=Briegel |first2=H. |title=Flight performance of the malaria vectors Anopheles gambiae and Anopheles atroparvus |journal=Journal of Vector Ecology |volume=29 |issue=1 |pages=140–153 |date=June 2004 |pmid=15266751 |url=http://www.sove.org/Journal%20PDF/June%202004/Kaufmann.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110728043927/http://www.sove.org/Journal%20PDF/June%202004/Kaufmann.pdf |archive-date=2011-07-28 }}</ref> traveling up to {{cvt|12|km}} in a night. Males beat their wings between 450 and 600 times per second, [[Indirect flight|driven indirectly]] by muscles which vibrate the thorax.<ref>{{cite web |first=Diana |last=Leung |url=https://hypertextbook.com/facts/2000/DianaLeung.shtml |title=Frequency of mosquito wings |year=2000 |website=The Physics Factbook |editor-last=Elert |editor-first=Glenn |accessdate=2022-01-24 |archive-date=2022-01-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220125000341/https://hypertextbook.com/facts/2000/DianaLeung.shtml |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Smith |first=David S. |title=Flight muscles of insects |journal=[[Scientific American]] |volume=212 |pages=76–88 |year=1965 |issue=6 |doi=10.1038/scientificamerican0665-76 |pmid=14327957 |bibcode=1965SciAm.212f..76S }}</ref> Mosquitoes are mainly small flies; the largest are in the genus ''[[Toxorhynchites]]'', at up to {{cvt|18|mm}} in length and {{cvt|24|mm}} in wingspan.<ref name="Cook 2009">{{cite book |author1=Cook, G.C. |author2=Zumla, A |year=2009 |title=Manson's Tropical Diseases |publisher=Saunders Elsevier |page=1735 |edition=22 |isbn=978-1-4160-4470-3}}</ref> Those in the genus ''[[Aedes]]'' are much smaller, with a wingspan of {{cvt|2.8|to|4.4|mm}}.<ref name="UF/IFAS A. gambiae">{{cite web |title=African malaria mosquito |url=https://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/aquatic/Anopheles_gambiae.htm |publisher=[[University of Florida]] |access-date=11 February 2024}}</ref>

Mosquitoes can develop from egg to adult in hot weather in as few as five days, but it may take up to a month.<ref name="EPA life cycle"/> At dawn or dusk, within days of pupating, males assemble in [[swarm]]s, mating when females fly in.<ref name="CDC Anopheles"/><!-- Males live for about 5–7 days. --> The female mates only once in her lifetime, attracted by the pheromones emitted by the male.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.timeshighereducation.com/hub/university-witwatersrand/p/male-mosquito-odours-reveal-how-mozzies-mate |title=Male mosquito odours reveal how mozzies mate |publisher=[[University of the Witwatersrand]] |date=5 August 2020 |access-date=25 January 2024 |archive-date=25 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240125141528/https://www.timeshighereducation.com/hub/university-witwatersrand/p/male-mosquito-odours-reveal-how-mozzies-mate |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Mozūraitis |first1=R. |last2=Hajkazemian |first2=M. |last3=Zawada |first3=J.W. |display-authors=etal |title=Male swarming aggregation pheromones increase female attraction and mating success among multiple African malaria vector mosquito species |journal=Nature Ecology & Evolution |volume=4 |issue=10 |pages=1395–1401 |date=3 August 2020 |doi=10.1038/s41559-020-1264-9 |pmid=32747772|bibcode=2020NatEE...4.1395M |s2cid=220948478 |url=https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:e28af752-35bf-4ed0-b0c6-7d612b3e44e3 }}</ref> As a species that need blood for the eggs to develop, the female finds a host and drinks a full meal of blood. She then rests for two or three days to digest the meal and allow her eggs to develop. She is then ready to lay the eggs and repeat the cycle of feeding and laying.<ref name="CDC Anopheles"/> Females can live for up to three weeks in the wild, depending on temperature, humidity, their ability to obtain a blood meal, and avoiding being killed by their vertebrate hosts.<ref name="CDC Anopheles"/><ref name="Peach-Gries-2020"/>

<gallery class=center mode="nolines" heights="450" widths="300">
File:Culex pipiens diagram en.svg|Anatomy of an adult female mosquito
File:Aedes aegypti E-A-Goeldi 1905.jpg|Adult yellow fever mosquito ''[[Aedes aegypti]]'', typical of subfamily [[Culicinae]]. Male (left) has bushy antennae and longer [[Insect mouthparts|palps]] than female (right)
</gallery>