The Culicomorpha are an

infraorder Order () is one of the eight major hierarchical taxonomic ranks in Linnaean taxonomy. It is classified between Family_(biology), family and Class_(biology), class. In biological classification, the order is a taxonomic rank used in the classific ...

Nematocera The Nematocera (the name meaning "thread-horns") are a suborder of elongated fly, flies with thin, segmented antenna (biology), antennae and mostly aquatic larvae. This group is paraphyletic and contains all flies except for species from suborder ...

, including

mosquito Mosquitoes, the Culicidae, are a Family (biology), family of small Diptera, flies consisting of 3,600 species. The word ''mosquito'' (formed by ''Musca (fly), mosca'' and diminutive ''-ito'') is Spanish and Portuguese for ''little fly''. Mos ...

es, black flies, and several extant and extinct families of insects. They originated 176 million years ago, in the

Triassic The Triassic ( ; sometimes symbolized 🝈) is a geologic period and system which spans 50.5 million years from the end of the Permian Period 251.902 million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Jurassic Period 201.4 Mya. The Triassic is t ...

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. Most adult, females lay their eggs on bodies of water. Some are restricted to very clean waters, but others can tolerate highly polluted environments. Many adults transmit parasites or diseases that can be debilitating or fatal to humans, such as

malaria Malaria is a Mosquito-borne disease, mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects vertebrates and ''Anopheles'' mosquitoes. Human malaria causes Signs and symptoms, symptoms that typically include fever, Fatigue (medical), fatigue, vomitin ...

and West Nile virus. Biting midges can transmit an extensive range of pathogens of veterinary importance, including

Akabane virus Akabane virus is an insect-transmitted virus that causes congenital abnormalities of the central nervous systems in ruminants. The virus is found in Australia, where it is most commonly spread by biting midges of the '' Culicoides'' species. Di ...

, bovine ephemeral fever virus, Schmallenberg virus, African horse sickness virus, epizootic haemorrhagic disease virus, and bluetongue virus.

Classification

The Culicomorpha comprises eight extant families divided into two superfamilies. It was described based on phylogenetic analyses of morphological features. * Superfamily Culicoidea ** Dixidae - meniscus midges **

Corethrellidae Corethrellidae are a family of biting midges, small flying insects belonging to the order Diptera, females of which feed on the blood of frogs. The members of the family are sometimes known as frog-biting midges. The family currently consists of ...

- frog-biting midges ** Chaoboridae – phantom midges **

Culicidae Mosquitoes, the Culicidae, are a Family (biology), family of small Diptera, flies consisting of 3,600 species. The word ''mosquito'' (formed by ''Musca (fly), mosca'' and diminutive ''-ito'') is Spanish and Portuguese for ''little fly''. Mos ...

– mosquitoes * Superfamily Chironomoidea ** Thaumaleidae – solitary midges ** Simuliidae – black flies and buffalo gnats **

Ceratopogonidae Ceratopogonidae is a family of flies commonly known as no-see-ums, sand flies or biting midges, generally in length. The family includes more than 5,000 species, distributed worldwide, apart from the Antarctic and the Arctic. A 2025 study fro ...

– biting midges ** Chironomidae – nonbiting midges The monophyly of Culicomorpha and Culicoidea have been confirmed in subsequent morphological and molecular studies, but several studies have found Chironomoidea to be paraphyletic. A morphological study in 2012, using characters from all life stages (egg, larva, pupae and adult), found that Chironomidae branched first and a sister relationship between Culicoidea and a clade of Simuliidae, Ceratopogonidae and Thamaleidae. A new superfamily, Simulioidea, was proposed for the latter clade and restricted Chironomoidea to Chironomidae. A phylogenomic analysis in 2018 also found a paraphyletic Chironomoidea and a close relationship between Simuliidae and Thamaleidae, but in this study Ceratopoginidae grouped with Chironomidae. The phylogenetic trees below illustrate the different arrangements.

Extinct families

* Asiochaoboridae (Upper

Jurassic The Jurassic ( ) is a Geological period, geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system that spanned from the end of the Triassic Period million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period, approximately 143.1 Mya. ...

) * Architendipedidae (Upper Triassic) * Protendipedidae (Middle Jurassic) * Mesophantasmatidae (Middle Jurassic)

References

Insect infraorders {{Culicomorpha-stub