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| Description: A mosquito is an insect. To be exact, a mosquito is a type of fly. In fact, the word ''mosquito'' is Spanish for ''little fly.'' Like its cousin, the housefly, a mosquito has one pair of wings. And like all insects, a mosquito has six legs. On its head, the mosquito has two antennae and two compound eyes, but its mouth sets it apart from many other insects. Just like humans, who have teeth for chewing food, insects have structures called mouthparts. These parts are specialized, depending on the type of insect. They are used for jobs like biting, chewing and sucking. The mosquito has a mouthpart called a proboscis. Similar to a straw, it is used for sucking. But that's not all. The female's mouthpart is also made for piercing. Guess why: the female mosquito is the only one that bites animals and sucks their blood! Her mouthpart is needle-sharp, and pokes through skin to get blood. ome people might believe that mosquitoes feed only on blood. This is not true. Both male and female mosquitoes use their proboscis to suck delicious nectar from flowers. So why do female mosquitoes also suck blood? It is because blood has special nutrients that feed the female's eggs. Now you know one way to tell male mosquitoes from females! With over three thousand different species, mosquitoes are found almost everywhere in the world. Mosquitoes are especially abundant in areas with marshes and swamps. Why is this? Females lay their eggs in water that is stagnant, or still. In fact, mosquitoes will even lay eggs in a backyard birdbath or pond. This can create quite a neighborhood mosquito problem! Picture Stats: Views: 742 Filesize: 94.52kB Height: 368 Width: 350 Source: https://biology-forums.com/index.php?action=gallery;sa=view;id=37536 |