Mosquitoes, the Culicidae, are a family of small flies consisting of 3,600 species. The word mosquito is Spanish and Portuguese for little fly. Mosquitoes have a slender, segmented body, one pair of w
Adult yellow fever mosquito Aedes aegypti, typical of subfamily Culicinae. Male (left) has bushy antennae and longer palps than female (right)
Anopheles eggs with side floats
Electron micrograph of a culicine egg
Flea, the common name for the order Siphonaptera, includes 2,500 species of small flightless insects that live as external parasites of mammals and birds. Fleas live by ingesting the blood of their ho
Dog flea (from top) larva, egg, pupa and adult
Cenozoic flea in amber, c. 20 mya, is morphologically modern.