A small fly (family Culicidae) that lays its eggs in or near water; these hatch as comma-shaped, aquatic larvae, pupate, and emerge as male adults that feed on sugar, mainly nectar, and live for a few days, and as female adults that live for longer and in many species feed on blood, which they need in order to produce eggs. Most female mosquitoes are ectoparasites and some transmit diseases including malaria, yellow fever, dengue fever, Chikungunya, West Nile virus, Zika virus, and others. There are more than 3500 species in about 43 genera, found worldwide.