MOSQUITO (Span. gnat), a name very generally given to the most troublesome specks of cuter, and allied genera. See GNAT. The name mosquito is given, accoidiug to Humboldt, in some parts of tropical South America to species of ri9nuilit, which are active during the day, whilst species of enter, active chiefly during the night, are called zancudoes; but these latter are the mosquitoes of .other countries generally. The name was probably first used in the West Indies, where it particularly designates a species (a mosquito) very similar to the common gnat, but not quite so large, with black pro boscis, and marked with silvery white on the head, thorax, and abdomen. It abounds in the warm parts of America, especially in marshy districts and in the vicinity of 'stag nant waters. It and similar species extend even to very northern regions, appearing during the heat of summer in prodigious swarms. Similar species are found also in similar situations in almost all parts of the world, and are almost as great a pest in Lap land as within the tropics. The bite which they inflict is painful, and their incessant
sharp buzzing prevents sleep. In India and other countries, beds are provided with mosquito curtains of gauze, which are closely drawn, to protect the occupant, while the natives who cannot avail themselves of such protection, smear their Lcdies with oil. So numerous are mosquitoes in some localties in South America, that the wretched inhabi tants sleep with their bodies covered over with sand three and four inches deep, the head only being left out, which they cover with a handkerchief ; and travelers have been obliged to have recourse to the same expedient. Even thick clothes afford at best a very partial protection from mosquitoes, being readily penetrated by the proboscis. Mosquitoes are readily attracted to a lamp, nod perish in its flame; but where they are numerous, a lamp only causes additional swarms to congregate to its neighborhood until it is extinguished, as is often very soon the case, by their dead bodies.