Culicid

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Any of a family of slender, two-winged insects whose females of many species suck blood, including the familiar mosquitoes
2. A member of the insect family Culicidae, a group of long-legged flies that includes the common mosquito
3. Describing or belonging to the family Culicidae, the biting flies better known as mosquitoes and their close relatives

Etymology: Ancient Romans had a word for these pests long before biologists sorted them into families. "Culex" meant gnat or midge, and a short Latin poem titled "Culex" (The Gnat) was transmitted under Virgil's name, though he almost certainly did not write it. "Culicid" is built from the Latin stem "culic-", taken from "culex," plus the suffix "-id." That suffix comes from Greek "-idēs," meaning "descendant of" or "member of," and scientists used it to name animal families. A culicid is therefore a member of the family Culicidae, the mosquitoes. English "mosquito" is unrelated: it comes from Spanish and Portuguese, meaning "little fly."

Synonyms: mosquito