Adult mosquitoes are small, fragile insects with slender bodies, one pair of narrow wings and three pairs of long, slender legs. They vary in length from 3/16 to 1/2 inch (5mm to 13mm). Mosquitoes have an elongate proboscis with piercing mouthparts with which the female bites and feeds on blood. Male mosquitoes feed only on plant nectar. Mosquitoes differ from other flies in that they have an elongate proboscis and scales on the veins of their wings. Often, the layperson confuses mosquitoes with midges, crane flies, punkies, biting gnats and other flies.
It is important to understand the various parts of the mosquito:
| Antenna | Pair of segmented appendages located on the head and sensory in function. |
| Abdomen | The posterior of the three main body divisions of insects. |
| Eye | A compound eye consisting of many individual elements or ommatidia, each of which is represented externally by a facet. |
| Femur | The segment of the leg between the tibia and thorax. |
| Head | The anterior body region which bears the mouthparts, eyes and antennae. |
| Proboscis | The elongate strawlike mouthparts. |
| Tarsus | The foot, the distal part of the insect leg, consisting of from one to five segments. |
| Tibia | The segment of the leg between the femur and tarsus. |
| Thorax | The body region behind the head, which bears the legs and wings. |
| Wing | An organ of flight; movable paired appendages with which certain insects are able to fly. |