Family overview
Slender, long-legged flies with a long piercing proboscis. Only females bite — they need blood proteins to develop eggs. Scaled wings.
The deadliest animal to humans. Vectors of malaria, dengue, Zika, West Nile, yellow fever, and dozens of other diseases. Kill ~700,000 people annually.
At a glance
Family facts.
Distribution
Worldwide
Habitat
Semi-aquatic · Parasitic
Approx. species
3,600
Notable members
Aedes aegypti (yellow fever, dengue, Zika), Anopheles (malaria), Culex (West Nile)