Where Does The Name “Mosquito” Come From?

There is a lot of thought and history put into a name. Everyday people encounter companies, products, and animals that all have names unique to themselves. Mosquito Enemy is a company dedicated to pest control, with a very clear focus on mosquitoes. Our name defines us just it defines our enemy. However, the name “mosquito” is just a common name. There are thousands of different species of mosquitoes. Across the world mosquitoes have tormented people, interfering with someone’s day under a different guise. The world has many languages and the species we know of today as “mosquitoes” has seen many other names.

The word “mosquito” itself has deep roots in Spanish and Portuguese. The Spanish often called the mosquitoes “musketas,” though the word “mosquito” itself translates to “little fly.” Native Hispanic Americans commonly called mosquitoes “zancudos,” which is a Spanish word that means “long-legged.”

The people of Europe have several different names for mosquitoes. In England they are commonly call them “gnats” while French writers have been noted to associate mosquitoes with the names “Les moucherons” or “Les cousins.” In Northern Europe the people of Germany have been documented as using the name “Stechmucken” or “Schnacke” when referring to mosquitoes at times. Mosquitoes are also called by a variety of names, including “myg” and “myyga,” in Scandinavian countries.

Interestingly, the use of the word “mosquito” to describe the winged bloodsuckers we know today is apparently of North American origin. The use of the word “mosquito” in North America has been recorded to date back to about 1583. The world is filled with so many different ways of referring to a single species of insect. For More…