I have spent the better part of this evening trying to understand exactly, precisely what the difference is between gnats and mosquitoes.

Many websites visited, one contradicting the other. Grrrrr!

What I have learned are the following contradictions:

1. Gnats are a type of mosquito.
2. Gnats are not mosquitoes because they don't bite.
3. Some gnats bite; others don't
4. Gnats never eat because all they do is mate and lay eggs.


Do you see what I mean? The information is all jumbled up and contradictory. I know:

1. Gnats, flies, mosquitoes and midges are all grouped under Diptera. They have two wings, six legs, and so on.
2. If you look at a photograph of a wood gnat (1/16th of an inch) blown up, it looks like a mosquito. No joke. Tiny, little annoying thing that looks like a flying poppyseed darting at your eyebrows, and it actually looks like a mosquito.

So, I'm aggravated. I've done my homework and I still don't know whether some gnats are biting gnats, and, if they are biting gnats, then why aren't they simply miniature mosquitoes? What's the diff?

One website will NOT do the trick because what is read there will be contradicted somewhere else. What's that expression about straining gnats?

If anybody knows for sure why gnats are different from mosquitoes, thanks very much for stating so here.

WW

Dear WW: All the biting insects have one thing in common. The remales need extra
protein to lay eggs. Most get it from animal blood. They differ widely in the way
they get the blood. The mosquitoes are almost unique in having a long device to
penetrate skin. It is made up of three needles that can move forward and back
independently to facilitate penetration. Capillary attraction makes blood climb up
so mosquito can ingest it. All of the biting insects use an anticoagulant so clotting
cannot interfere with their meal. Sensitivity to the anticoagulant is what makes
bites later itch and swell up.
For most of their lives mosquitoes feed on plant fluids. And remember, it is only
the dad-ratted females that bite.

And ...it is only the dad-ratted females that bite.

And only the males that buzzzzz. So that buzzing sound should reassure rather than annoy.
If it's buzzin' it ain't bitin' !

The male mosquitoes don't even come into the house, or near a person outdoors.
they're too busy drinking mint juleps.