Mosquitoes are a group of around 3,500 species of small insects that are flies. The word "mosquito" derived from Spanish word mosca for "little fly". Mosquitoes have a slender segmented body, one pair of wings, one pair of halteres, three pairs of long hair-like legs, and elongated mouthparts. The mosquito life cycle consists of several stages: egg, larva, pupa, and adult stages. Eggs are laid on the water surface. They hatch into motile larvae that feed on aquatic algae and organic material. The adult females of most species have tube-like mouthparts (called a proboscis) that can pierce the skin of a host and feed on blood, which contains protein and iron needed to produce eggs. Mosquitoes have a slender segmented body, one pair of wings, … (par.1) The underlined word has the closest meaning to …

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Mosquitoes are a group of around 3,500 species of small insects that are flies. The word "mosquito" derived from Spanish word mosca for "little fly". Mosquitoes have a slender segmented body, one pair of wings, one pair of halteres, three pairs of long hair-like legs, and elongated mouthparts.

The mosquito life cycle consists of several stages: egg, larva, pupa, and adult stages. Eggs are laid on the water surface. They hatch into motile larvae that feed on aquatic algae and organic material. The adult females of most species have tube-like mouthparts (called a proboscis) that can pierce the skin of a host and feed on blood, which contains protein and iron needed to produce eggs.

Mosquitoes have a slender segmented body, one pair of wings, … (par.1)

The underlined word has the closest meaning to …