Mosquitoes

A mosquito has a small and slender body, six thin little legs, usually two small plumose antennae that are finely tuned sensing organs, and a small head with an (often) visible sucking snout. All mosquitoes have a sucking snout, however most types cannot use it to bite.
Like hoverflies, mosquitoes live on nectar and pollen that is sucked up using the sucking snout. Nevertheless, humans regard them as unpleasant creatures because their activities include the sucking of blood; the females that is. In humans this results in a red itchy bump. In tropical areas, mosquitoes often spread diseases such as malaria.

There are different mosquito families. There are at least 25 different families in the Netherlands alone. The most well-known families are the crane flies (Tipulidae), and the stinging mosquitoes (Culicidae) that are known for their itching mosquito bumps. The blackflies (Melusinidae) and biting midges (Ceratopogonidae) can also bite; they are smaller and sometimes occur in large numbers. Other families such as chironomids (non-biting midges), do not bite. A mosquito bump develops after a mosquito has sucked some blood from the body. In doing so, saliva is excreted that contains an anti-coagulation factor. This is a protein that leads to an immune reaction in humans in the form of a mosquito bump.

Mosquitoes always live near water because this is where the larvae develop. Male mosquitoes only suck plant sap such as nectar. Only the female mosquitoes bite; they suck blood because it contains nutrients that they require to lay eggs.