page_title: Mosquito
section_title: Origin myths
hierarchical_section_title: Mosquito / In human culture / Origin myths
caption_attribution_description: English: Still from How a Mosquito Operates (1912) by American animator Winsor McCay
context_page_description: A mosquito is any member of a group of about 3,500 species of small insects belonging to the order Diptera. Within Diptera, mosquitoes constitute the family Culicidae. The word "mosquito" is Spanish for "little fly". Mosquitoes have a slender segmented body, one pair of wings, one pair of halteres, three pairs of long hair-like legs, and elongated mouthparts.
  The mosquito life cycle consists of egg, larva, pupa, and adult stages. Eggs are laid on the water surface; they hatch into motile larvae that feed on aquatic algae and organic material. The adult females of most species have tube-like mouthparts that can pierce the skin of a host and feed on blood, which contains protein and iron needed to produce eggs. Thousands of mosquito species feed on the blood of various hosts ⁠— vertebrates, including mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and some fish; along with some invertebrates, primarily other arthropods. This loss of blood is seldom of any importance to the host.
  The mosquito's saliva is transferred to the host during the bite, and can cause an itchy rash. In addition, many species can ingest pathogens while biting, and transmit them to future hosts.
context_section_description: The peoples of Siberia have origin myths surrounding the mosquito - one Ostiak myth tells of a man-eating giant, Punegusse, who is killed by a hero but will not stay dead, the hero eventually burns the giant, but the ashes of the fire become mosquitos that continue to plague mankind.
  Other myths from the Yakuts, Goldes (Nanai people), and Samoyed have the insect arising from the ashes or fragments of some giant creature or demon. Similar tales are found in Native North American myth, with the mosquito arising from the ashes of a man-eater - suggesting a common origin. The Tatars of the Altai had a similar myth, thought to be of Native North American origin, involving the fragments of the dead giant Andalma-Muus, becoming mosquitos and other insects.
caption: A still from Winsor McCay's pioneering 1912 animated film How a Mosquito Operates
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