Editing Culicomorpha (section)

{{Short description|Infraorder of flies}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| image = AnophelesGambiaemosquito.jpg
| taxon = Culicomorpha 
| authority = Hennig, 1948
| subdivision_ranks = Superfamilies
| subdivision = 
[[Culicoidea]]<br/> 
[[Chironomoidea]]<br/>
See text for families.
}}

The '''Culicomorpha''' are an [[infraorder (biology)|infraorder]] of [[Nematocera]], including [[mosquito]]es, [[black fly|black flies]], and several extant and extinct families of insects.<ref name=Borkent-2012>{{cite journal |last=Borkent |first=Art |title=The pupae of Culicomorpha : morphology and a new phylogenetic tree |journal=Zootaxa |volume=3396 |issue=1 |year=2012 |url=https://mosquito-taxonomic-inventory.myspecies.info/sites/mosquito-taxonomic-inventory.info/files/Borkent%202012.pdf |doi=10.11646/zootaxa.3396.1 |isbn=978-1-86977-957-3 |oclc=807999306}}</ref> They originated 176 million years ago, in the [[Triassic]] period. There are phylogenetic patterns that are used to interpret bionomic features such as differences in the nature of blood-feeding by adult females, daytime or nighttime feeding by adult females, and occurrence of immature stages in aquatic habitats.<ref name=Borkent-2012/>

Most adult, females lay their eggs on bodies of water. Some are restricted to very clean waters, but others can tolerate highly polluted environments.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/899273856 |title=Ecology and General Biology |date=2015 |publisher=Academic Press |others=James H. Thorp, D. Christopher Rogers |isbn=978-0-12-385027-0 |edition=4th |location=London |oclc=899273856}}</ref>

Many adults transmit parasites or diseases that can be debilitating or fatal to humans, such as [[malaria]] and [[West Nile virus]]. Biting midges can transmit an extensive range of pathogens of veterinary importance, including [[Akabane orthobunyavirus|Akabane virus]], [[bovine ephemeral fever]] virus, [[Schmallenberg orthobunyavirus|Schmallenberg virus]], [[African horse sickness]] virus, [[Epizootic hemorrhagic disease virus|epizootic haemorrhagic disease virus]], and [[Bluetongue disease|bluetongue virus]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Carpenter |first1=Simon |last2=Groschup |first2=Martin H. |last3=Garros |first3=Claire |last4=Felippe-Bauer |first4=Maria Luiza |last5=Purse |first5=Bethan V. |date=October 2013 |title=Culicoides biting midges, arboviruses and public health in Europe |journal=Antiviral Research |volume=100 |issue=1 |pages=102–113 |doi=10.1016/j.antiviral.2013.07.020 |issn=1872-9096 |pmid=23933421|doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Carpenter |first1=S. |last2=Veronesi |first2=E. |last3=Mullens |first3=B. |last4=Venter |first4=G. |date=April 2015 |title=Vector competence of Culicoides for arboviruses: three major periods of research, their influence on current studies and future directions |url=https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26470451 |journal=Revue Scientifique et Technique (International Office of Epizootics) |volume=34 |issue=1 |pages=97–112 |doi=10.20506/rst.34.1.2347 |issn=0253-1933 |pmid=26470451|doi-access=free }}</ref>