Mosquitoes are members of a group of almost 3,600 species of small flies within the family Culicidae. The word "mosquito" is Spanish and Portuguese 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. Wikipedia Lifespan: Culex pipiens: 7 days Class: Insecta Order: Diptera Family: Culicidae; Meigen, 1818 Phylum: Arthropoda Kingdom: Animalia