mosquito

en-noun

mosquito (plural mosquitoes or mosquitos)

→ Cornish: moskito

Jamaican Creole: maskitta

Borrowed from Spanish mosquito (“gnat”), diminutive of mosca (“fly”), from Latin musca (“fly”), from Proto-Indo-European *mūs- (“fly, stinging fly, gnat”). Cognate with West Flemish meuzie (“mosquito”), dialectal Swedish mausa (“mosquito”), Lithuanian musė (“a fly”) and Sicilian muschitta (“midge”). See also midge. First attested in the 1580s.

der

I do not quite know what it was that made me poke my head out of the friendly shelter of the blanket, perhaps because I found that the mosquitoes were biting right through it.

1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →OCLC:

We lit a driftwood fire to help keep the mosquitoes away. It was partially successful.

1941 March 12, Charles A. Lindbergh, The Wartime Journals of Charles A. Lindbergh, New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, published 1970, page 461:

Nicaragua has been investigating the possibility that the 1985 outbreak of dengue fever along its Honduran border may have resulted from the release of infected mosquitos by U.S. reconnaissance overflights.

1987 May 9, Bod Lederer, “US Denies AIDS Bio War with Contradictions”, in Gay Community News, page 8:

Sue had climbed up to the rafters and attached her mosquito netting over one of the exposed beams in the ceiling, and Edgar had climbed into the bed under it so no flying buzzies would mess with his ears.

2011, Sharon S. Delaney, Celestial Mesa: 2012, →ISBN, page 120:

A small flying insect of the family Culicidae, the females of which bite humans and animals and suck blood, leaving an itching bump on the skin, and sometimes carrying diseases like malaria, dengue and yellow fever.

акәыбры

small flying insect of the family Culicidae, known for biting and sucking blood


fly

From Middle English flye (“flying, flight”), from Old English flyge (“flying, flight”), from Proto-Germanic *flugiz.

дюкян

strip that hides the opening of trousers/pants or underpants

Edward H[enry] Knight
w:Edward H. Knight

In a knitting machine, the piece hinged to the needle, which holds the engaged loop in position while the needle is penetrating another loop; a latch.


made

From Middle English mathe, from Old English maþu, maþa (“maggot, worm, grub”), from Proto-Germanic *maþô (“maggot”), from Proto-Indo-European *mot- (“worm, grub, caterpillar, moth”). Cognate with Scots mathe, maithe (“maggot”), Dutch made (“maggot”), German Made (“maggot”). More at maggot.

(UK dialectal or obsolete) A grub or maggot.


maggot

From Middle English magot, magat, maked, probably a metathetic alteration of maddock, maðek (“worm", "maggot”), originally a diminutive form of a base represented by Old English maþa (Scots mathe), from Frankish *maþō, from common Proto-Germanic *maþô, from the Proto-Indo-European root *mat, which was used in insect names, equivalent to made + -ock. Near-cognates include Dutch made, German Made and Swedish mask, Icelandic maðkur (“worm, grub, maggot”).
The use of maggot to mean a fanciful or whimsical thing derives from the folk belief that a whimsical or crotchety person had maggots in their brain.

A soft, legless larva of a fly or other dipterous insect, that often eats decomposing organic matter.

maaier

dipterous insect's larva that eats decomposing organic matter

(We) We are the new diabolic
 (We) We are the bitter bucolic
 If I have to give my life, you can have it
 (We) We are the pulse of the maggots

2004, “Pulse of the Maggots”, performed by Slipknot:

(slang) A fan of the American metal band Slipknot.


maggot

en-adj

maggot (comparative more maggot, superlative most maggot)

more maggot (comparative)
most maggot (superlative)

(colloquial, Australia) Alternative form of maggoted (“drunk; intoxicated”)


breeze

From Middle English brese, from Old English brēosa, variant of Old English brimsa (“gadfly”), from Proto-Germanic *bremusī (“gadfly”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰerem- (“to make a noise, buzz, hum”). Cognate with Dutch brems (“horsefly, warblefly”), German Bremse (“gadfly, horsefly”), Danish bremse (“gadfly, horsefly”), Swedish broms (“gadfly, horsefly”). Related also to Middle English brimse (“gadfly”), French brize (“gadfly”), Old English bremman (“to rage, roar”), Latin fremō (“roar, snort, growl, grumble”). See also bream.

cog

A gadfly; a horsefly; a strong-bodied dipterous insect of the family Tabanidae.


gnat

From Middle English gnat, from Old English gnætt (“gnat; midge; mosquito”), from Proto-West Germanic *gnatt, *gnattu, from Proto-Germanic *gnattaz, *gnattuz (“gnat”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰneHdʰn-, *gʰneHd- (“to gnaw; scratch”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰen- (“to gnaw; bite; scratch; grind”). Cognate with Low German Gnatte (“gnat”), dialectal Swedish gnatt (“mote; particle; atom”), German Gnatz (“scabs; rash; scabies; stinginess”). Related also gnit and gnaw.

cog

Any small insect of the order Diptera, specifically within the suborder Nematocera.


tumbler

A movable obstruction in a lock, consisting of a lever, latch, wheel, slide, or the like, which must be adjusted to a particular position by a key or other means before the bolt can be thrown in locking or unlocking.

A variety of the domestic pigeon remarkable for its habit of tumbling, or turning somersaults, during its flight.

A beverage cup, typically made of stainless steel, that is broad at the top and narrow at the bottom commonly used in India.

One of a set of levers from which the heddles hang in some looms.


nipper

(Canada, slang, Newfoundland) A mosquito.


blowfly

The blowfly was her next victim, but an unexciting one. Pulling off its legs, she placed it with the hornet, and both lay side by side unprotestingly.

1907, Barbara Baynton, edited by Sally Krimmer and Alan Lawson, Human Toll (Portable Australian Authors: Barbara Baynton), St Lucia: University of Queensland Press, published 1980, page 168:

What is a blow-fly? That is what I thought when I saw them: blow-flies. Is there something dead around here that has not yet begun to stink? I cannot discover where they are coming from; they just appear in the light of the lamp, attracted by the warmth, I suppose, and fly up against the bulb and then drop stunned on the table and flop about groggily until I sweep them away with my sleeve.

Any of various flies of the family Calliphoridae that lay their eggs in rotting meat, dung, or open wounds.


midget

Diminutive of midge (from Old English myċġ (“mosquito”), from Proto-Germanic *mugjō, from Proto-Indo-European *mus-, *mu-, *mew-; cognate with Dutch mug (“mosquito”) and German Mücke (“midge, gnat”)), using the suffix -et, originally (1865) for a "little sand fly", only around 1869 also a "very small person".

They [children] realize their oughts no less sharply than their crosses; and this even though they are midgets in a land of giants who have forgotten much of their language and whose right is often founded solely on force majeure.

1930, Walter de la Mare, Poems for Children, London: Constable & Co., →OCLC, page xxix; republished in “[The Children’s Bookshop] Children and Childhood”, in Henry Seidel Canby, editor, The Saturday Review of Literature, volume VII, number 9, New York, N.Y.: Saturday Review Associates, 1930 September 20, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 151, column 2:


malaria

en-noun

malaria (countable and uncountable, plural malarias)

Borrowed from Italian malaria, formed from mal- (“bad”) and aria (“air”). Displaced native Old English unlyft (literally “bad air”).

ncog

(pathology) A disease spread by mosquito, in which a protozoan, Plasmodium, multiplies in blood every few days.


botfly

One of several dipterous insects of the family Oestridae, the larvae of which are parasites on many animals, including humans.


stout

From Middle English stout, from Old English stūt (“gnat; midge”).


hopper

From Middle English hoppere, alteration of *hoppe (found in grashoppe (“grasshopper”)), from Old English *hoppa (“one who hops, hopper”), equivalent to hop + -er. Cognate with Dutch hopper (“hopper”), Swedish hoppare (“hopper, jumper”), Icelandic hoppari (“hopper”).

der

I went over and found the mealies and ground covered with large hoppers, about two weeks old.

1901, J. H. Stansell, “Locust Destruction”, in The Agricultural Journal and Mining Record, volume 4, page 21:

Various insects
A grasshopper or locust, especially:
The immature form of a locust.

Various insects
The larva of a cheese fly.

Various insects
Any of various hesperiid butterflies.


gadfly

Harold North Fowler
Harvard University Press
Loeb Classical Library
Plato
Socrates

From gad (“(obsolete) sharp point, spike; (dialectal) sharp-pointed rod for driving cattle, horses, etc., goad”) + fly, in the sense of a fly which irritates cattle, etc., by biting them, similar to the prodding of a goad. Gad is derived from Middle English gad, gadde (“metal spike with a sharp point; stick with a sharp point for driving animals, goad; metal bar or rod, ingot; (by extension) lump of material; metal rod for measuring land; (by extension) unit of linear measure equal to about 10 to 16 feet”), borrowed from Old Norse gaddr (“spike; goad”), from Proto-Germanic *gazdaz (“spike; goad”), further etymology uncertain.
Sense 2.1.1 (“person who upsets the status quo”) may allude to the Apology by the Greek philosopher Plato (428/427 or 424/423 – 348/347 B.C.E.), where he describes Socrates (c. 470 – 399 B.C.E.) acting as a goad to the Athenian political scene like a gadfly (Ancient Greek μῠ́ωψ (mŭ́ōps)) arousing a sluggish horse.

piikittelijä

person or thing that irritates or instigates

(botfly):

(horsefly):

He that made that ryme in jeſt, little conſidered what a gad-fly may doe in earneſt. It is ſmall wiſedome to contemne the ſmalleſt enemy; the gad-fly is a little creature, but ſome little creatures be ſtingers; […]

1593, Gabriel Harvey, Pierces Supererogation: Or A New Prayse of the Old Asse, London: […] Iohn Wolfe, →OCLC; republished as John Payne Collier, editor, Pierces Supererogation: Or A New Prayse of the Old Asse. A Preparative to Certaine Larger Discourses, Intituled Nashes S. Fame (Miscellaneous Tracts. Temp. Eliz. & Jac. I; no. 8), [London: [s.n.], 1870], →OCLC, page 147:

Light fly his ſlumbers, if perchance a flight / Of angry gad-flies faſten on the herd; […]

a. 1749 (date written), James Thomson, “Summer”, in The Seasons, London: […] A[ndrew] Millar, and sold by Thomas Cadell, […], published 1768, →OCLC, page 65, lines 498–499:

The nomads of Africa are constrained to wander by the attacks of the gadfly, which drives the cattle mad, and so compels the tribe to emigrate in the rainy season and drive off the cattle to the higher sandy regions.

1841, R[alph] W[aldo] Emerson, “Essay I. History.”, in Essays, Boston, Mass.: James Munroe and Company, →OCLC, pages 18–19:

Vengeful Hera transformed her [Io] into an animal (a beautiful cow), and imposed upon her the company of a gadfly to sting her continuously, thus forcing her to escape on an endless pilgrimage.

2005, Rafael Argullol, “Introduction”, in Yolanda Gamboa, transl., The End of the World as a Work of Art: A Western Story, Lewisburg, Pa.: Bucknell University Press; Cranbury, N.J.: Associated University Presses, →ISBN, page 48:

Any dipterous (“two-winged”) insect or fly of the family Oestridae (commonly known as a botfly) or Tabanidae (horsefly), noted for irritating animals by buzzing about them, and biting them to suck their blood; a gadbee.

VVhat VVinnie? VVife, I ſay? out of dores at this time! vvhere ſhould I ſeeke the Gad-flye?

1605 August (first performance), Geo[rge] Chapman, Ben Ionson, Ioh[n] Marston, Eastward Hoe. […], London: […] [George Eld] for William Aspley, published September 1605, →OCLC, Act III, scene ii:

VVhere are thoſe gad-flies going? to ſome Junket novv; […]

c. 1613, Thomas Middleton, William Rowley, “Wit at Several Weapons. A Comedy.”, in Comedies and Tragedies […], London: […] Humphrey Robinson, […], and for Humphrey Moseley […], published 1647, →OCLC, Act IV, scene i, page 85, column 2:

[Y]our Harriet may turn gadfly, and never be eaſy but vvhen ſhe is forming parties, or giving vvay to them, that may make the home, that hitherto has been the chief ſcene of her pleaſures, undelightful to her.

1753 (indicated as 1754), [Samuel Richardson], “Letter XVIII. Miss Byron. In Continuation.”, in The History of Sir Charles Grandison. […], volume I, London: […] S[amuel] Richardson; [a]nd sold by C. Hitch and L. Hawes, […], →OCLC, page 125:

Synonym of gadabout (“a person who restlessly moves from place to place, seeking amusement or the companionship of others”)

gadabout

He’s a regular gadfly and takes advantage of his friend’s generosity.

(derogatory, slang) A person who takes without giving back; a bloodsucker.


skipper

From Middle English skippere, skyppare, equivalent to skip + -er.

Sprattus sprattus
Sprattus sprattus#Translingual

Any of several marine fishes that often leap above water, especially Cololabis saira (Pacific saury) and Sprattus sprattus (European sprat).

w:Webster's Dictionary#Webster's New International Dictionary 1909

The cheese maggot, the larva of a cheese fly (family Piophilidae), which leaps to escape predators.


minge

From Angloromani mintš, from Romani minʒ (“female genitals”), probably from Old Armenian մէջ (mēǰ, “middle, midst; inside, interior; the middle part of the body; loins, reins; waist; belly, abdomen; back”). Doublet of medius.
Alternate etymology: from the Latin mingere (“to urinate”), synecdochically used to describe the organ through an associated function (possibly ironically or euphemistically).

der

Last week, she ended up on a binge / She got off her tits and showed the bouncers her minge

2005, “Your Missus Is A Nutter”, performed by Goldie Lookin Chain:

(UK, Ireland, Commonwealth, vulgar, slang) The pubic hair and vulva.


minge

If troubled by black flies, mosquitoes, minges, or other insects, build a smudge in this way[…]

1883, Charles Alden John Farrar, Farrar's Illustrated Guide Book to the Androscoggin Lakes:

The minges and noseeums had found her now, so many of them buzzing around her head that her vision seemed to dance with black specks. She waved at them but didn't slap. Slap at mosquitoes, but it's better just to wave at the little ones, her Mom had told her ...

1999, Stephen King, The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon:

(US, archaic, dialectal) Synonym of midge (“small biting fly”).


yellow fever

Your girl want me, we both know / Cause she got yellow fever

2015, “In This B*tch”, in WORLDWIDE, performed by Jay Park:

(figurative, slang) An attraction to ethnically East Asian men or women, expressed by non-East Asian (especially white European male or white American) people.


wick

→ Maori: wiki

From Middle English weke, wicke (“wick”), from Old English wēoce (“wick”), from Proto-West Germanic *weukā (“flax bundle, wick”), from Proto-Indo-European *weg- (“to weave”).
Compare West Frisian wjok, wjuk (“wing”), Dutch wiek (“wing; propeller, blade; wick”), German Wieche (“wisp; wick”), Swedish veke (“wick”).

cog

Any piece of porous material that conveys liquid by capillary action, such as a strip of gauze placed in a wound to serve as a drain.

(curling) A shot where the played stone touches a stationary stone just enough that the played stone changes direction.


wick

en-verb

wick (third-person singular simple present wicks, present participle wicking, simple past and past participle wicked)

wicks (present singular third-person)
wicking (participle present)
wicked (participle past)
wicked (past)

The fabric wicks perspiration away from the body.

(transitive) To convey or draw off (liquid) by capillary action.


wick

en-adj

wick (comparative wicker or more wick, superlative wickest or most wick)

wicker (comparative)
more wick (comparative)
wickest (superlative)
most wick (superlative)

Inherited from Northern Middle English whyk (southern quyk), from Old English cwic (“alive”); similar to an archaic meaning of quick (“endowed with life; having a high degree of vigor, energy, or activity”), and quicken (“come to life”), to which it is related.

doublet

(British, dialect, derogatory, chiefly Yorkshire, of inanimate objects) resistant to being put to use, stiff, stubborn (as for example a rope or a screw).


jumper

(arachnology, informal) A jumping spider.


apple fly

Any of several dipterous insects particularly in the families Tephritidae and Drosophilidae whose larvae burrow into apples.


cleg

From Middle English clege, from Old Norse kleggi, possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *glōgʰ-s (“point”); compare with Norwegian Nynorsk klegg, Ancient Greek γλωχίς (glōkhís, “barb”).


dengue

en-noun

dengue (usually uncountable, plural dengues)

From West Indian Spanish dengue in 1828, from the Kiswahili term dinga (in full kidingapopo or kidinga pepo, "a kind of sudden cramp-like seizure caused by an evil spirit", dinga itself meaning sudden cramp-like seizure). The borrowed term changed to dengue in Spanish due to this word existing in Spanish with the meaning "fastidiousness" and the folk etymology referring to the dislike of movement by affected patients of chikungunya which was also reffered to as dengue until the first half of the 20th century.

An acute febrile disease of the (sub)tropics caused by the Dengue virus, a flavivirus, transmitted by Aedes mosquitoes, and characterized by high fever, rash, headache, and severe muscle and joint pain.


tsetse

Species of Trypanosoma transmitted by tsetse cause diseases of economic importance in humans and domestic animals in sub-Saharan Africa.

1999, Stephen G. A. Leak, Tsetse Biology and Ecology: Their Role in the Epidemiology and Control of Trypanosomosis, CABI Publishing, page 7:

Any fly of the genus Glossina, native to Africa, that feeds on human and animal blood; known primarily as a carrier of parasitic trypanosomes.


daddy longlegs

daddy longlegs (plural daddy longlegs or daddy longlegses)

daddy longlegs (plural)
daddy longlegses (plural)

/ˈdædɪ ˈlɒŋ(ɡ)lɛɡz/

Another spider neighbor that is commonly found in homes is the daddy longlegs. The daddy longlegs is often called a cellar spider.

2010, Lou Bensinger, Tiny Invaders in Your Home, page 10:

daddy long-legs spider
daddy long-legs spider

(loosely) The daddy long-legs spider, any spider of the family Pholcidae.


yellow jack

yellow jack (countable and uncountable, plural yellow jacks)


cranefly

Any of various large flies of the suborder Tipulomorpha that have slender bodies and very long legs and that resemble giant mosquitoes.


West Nile fever

(pathology) A disease caused by the West Nile virus that is transmitted from birds to mosquitoes and then to people. Symptoms include drowsiness, headache and nausea, pain in the abdomen, a rash, and swollen glands, and may prove fatal.


horsefly

From Middle English horse fliȝe, equivalent to horse + fly.

It was not a horsefly and it was not a deerfly; it was bigger than either.

2017, Neil Gaiman, Norse Mythology, Bloomsbury Publishing, page 36:

Any of several medium to large flies, of the family Tabanidae, that suck the blood of mammals (not to be confused with Stomoxys calcitrans, the stable fly, or dog fly).

deer fly

individual species or subgroups of the family Tabanidae


flesh fly

any fly of the family Sarcophagidae that feed on carrion


hover-fly

(dated) Alternative form of hoverfly; any insect, of the Syrphidae family, having wasp-like markings


fruit fly

Any insect of the Tephritidae family, whose larvae damage plant tissue.

Drosophila melanogaster
Drosophila melanogaster#Translingual

Any insect of the Drosophilidae family, whose larvae feed on ripening fruit, especially the species Drosophila melanogaster that is used in genetic research.

果蠅 /果蝇

Drosophilidae — see also Drosophila melanogaster

Dan Valentine works as a bartender in a pissy and discreet Boston Village gay bar called "Bonaparte's". Clarisse is a chi-chi phruit phly who occasionally puts in time pushing real estate in fash Back Bay and the South End.

1980 December 13, Mitzel, “Dale Barbre's Murder Transformed”, in Gay Community News, volume 8, number 21, page 12:

(slang) A woman who enjoys the company of homosexual men.


soldier fly

Any fly of the insect family Stratiomyidae, which resemble wasps.


housefly

From house + fly. Cognate with Dutch huisvlieg (“housefly”), Danish husflue (“housefly”), Swedish husfluga (“housefly”), Faroese húsfluga (“housefly”).

Any fly regularly found in human dwellings.

Of the three potential means (carriage on the body and legs, regurgitation and defecation) by which houseflies can transmit pathogens, one involves passage through the gut. During passage through the housefly, pathogens may replicate within the gut.

1990, D. C. Kaslow, S. Welburn, “16: Insect-transmitted pathogens in the insect midgut”, in M. Lehane, P. Billingsley, editors, Biology of the Insect Midgut, page 454:

In the housefly, M. domestica, sex pheromone production is correlated with egg development.

2004, R. Jurenka, “Insect Pheromone Biosynthesis”, in Stefan Schulz, editor, The Chemistry of Pheromones and Other Semiochemicals I, page 123:

Houseflies are known to carry at least 100 different pathogens and they are vectors for at least 65 of these.

2011, Ross Piper, Pests: A Guide to the World's Most Maligned, Yet Misunderstood Creatures, page 102:

Musca domestica
Musca domestica#Translingual

The common housefly, Musca domestica, that frequents most homes and spreads some diseases.


maddock

From Middle English maddok, from an unrecorded Old English form corresponding to Old Norse maðkr (whence dialectal English mawk, Danish maddike, Swedish mask), originally a diminutive of the Proto-Germanic *maþô (“worm”) (whence Old English maþa), equivalent to made (“maggot”) + -ock.


mawk

From Middle English mawke, moke, a contraction of mathek, maddok, from Old Norse maðkr (“maggot”), a diminutive of a base from Proto-Germanic *maþô (“worm”) (compare Old English maþa), from Proto-Indo-European *mat-, *mot- used in reference to insects and vermin. Cognate with Danish maddike, Swedish mask, archaic English maddock (modern maggot).


midge

From Middle English mydge, migge, from Old English mygg, myċġ (“midge, gnat”), from Proto-West Germanic *muggju, from Proto-Germanic *mugjō, from Proto-Indo-European *mū- (“fly, midge”), *mu-, *mew-.
Cognates
* Scots mige (“midge”)
* Saterland Frisian Määge (“gnat, mosquito”)
* West Frisian mich (“fly, mosquito”)
* West Flemish meezje (“midge, mosquito”)
* Dutch mug (“midge, gnat, mosquito”)
* German Low German Mügge (“midge, gnat, mosquito”)
* German Mücke (“midge, gnat, mosquito”)
* Swedish mygg, mygga (“midge, gnat, mosquito”)
* Icelandic mý (“midge, gnat, fly”)
The Proto-Indo-European root was also the source of
* Latin musca
* Ancient Greek μυῖα (muîa)
* Russian му́ха (múxa)
* Latvian muša
* Czech muchnička
* Albanian mizë
* Armenian մուն (mun)

cog

"I am being eaten alive!" cried Pippin. "Midgewater! There are more midges than water!"

1954, J. R. R. Tolkien, “A Knife in the Dark”, in The Fellowship of the Ring:

Devils Lake is where I began my career as a limnologist in 1964, studying the lake’s neotenic salamanders and chironomids, or midge flies. […] The Devils Lake Basin is an endorheic, or closed, basin covering about 9,800 square kilometers in northeastern North Dakota.

2012 January 16, Douglas Larson, “Runaway Devils Lake”, in American Scientist, volume 100, number 1, archived from the original on 2012-05-23, page 46:

any of various small two-winged flies, for example, from the family Chironomidae or non-biting midges, the family Chaoboridae or phantom midges, and the family Ceratopogonidae or biting midges, all belonging to the order Diptera

mushicë

fly of family Chironomidae or Ceratopogonidae


bluebottle

* blue + bottle From resemblance to shiny colored-glass bottles.
* (police officer): From the colour of the uniform.

Batemans Bay, New South Wales
bluebottle

A blue ant, Diamma bicolor, a parasitic wasp native to Australia.


greenbottle

From green + bottle. From resemblance to shiny colored-glass bottles.

Any of various blowflies of the genus Lucilia that are a brilliant metallic green in colour.


hoverfly

Any of various flies from the family Syrphidae that hover in the air and feed on the nectar of flowers.


greenfly

en-noun

greenfly (plural greenflies or greenfly)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-greenfly.wav

Any of several kinds of common insects green in color:

Lucilia sericata, common green bottle fly.


blackfly

A black or dark green aphid (Aphis fabae) that is a common pest of agricultural crops.


glowworm

From Middle English glouworm; equivalent to glow + worm.
Compare German Glühwurm.

(Australia, New Zealand) A carnivorous gnat larva in the keroplatid genus Arachnocampa that spins threads to capture insects attracted by its glow.


fly in the ointment

fly in the ointment (plural flies in the ointment)

A reference to Ecclesiastes 10:1 in the Bible (King James Version; spelling modernized): “Dead flies cause the ointment of the apothecary to send forth a stinking savour: so doeth a little folly him that is in reputation for wisdom and honour.”

And yet, in truth, he was not then a child of God. His pride and uncharitableness, were flies in the ointment.

1807, [Edward Wesley Hare], “Letter V”, in Genuine Methodism Acquitted, and Spurious Methodism Condemned; […] , Rochdale, Lancashire: […] J. Hartley; […], →OCLC, paragraph 5, page 75:

A Poor Relation—is the most irrelevant thing in nature,— […] —a fly in your ointment,—a mote in your eye,— […] —the ounce of sour in a pound of sweet.

[1833, Elia [pseudonym; Charles Lamb], “Poor Relations”, in The Last Essays of Elia. […], London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 10:

Not one moment are we to be indolently reconciled to this ever-haunting imperfection of our life-work; but the work itself must be patiently surveyed in its true character. Nothing is gained by pretending there are no flies in the ointment.

1884 March, “Flies in the Ointment”, in T[homas] De Witt Talmage, editor, Frank Leslie’s Sunday Magazine, volume XV, number 3, New York, N.Y.: Frank Leslie’s Publishing House, […], →OCLC, page 302, column 2:

Nothing, of course, in this world is perfect; and, rosy as were the glasses through which Archie looked on his new surroundings, he had to admit that there was one flaw, one fly in the ointment, one individual caterpillar in the salad.

1920 March – 1921 February, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, “Work Wanted”, in Indiscretions of Archie, New York, N.Y.: A. L. Burt Company, publishers […], published 1921, →OCLC, page 28:

Our gods are the unaccountable, uncontainable facts, the flies in the ointment.

1973, David Wevill, “Where the Arrow Falls”, in Other Names for the Heart: New and Selected Poems 1964–1984, Toronto, Ont.: Exile Editions, published 1985, →ISBN, page 63:

Bummy Davis is no longer a pugilist. Willie is very aware of this fact and lets Johnny Attell know that there is a fly in the ointment, and Johnny, who is a very shrewd article, has his chauffeur drive him to Bradford Street so he can change the kid's mind.

2003, Ron Ross, Bummy Davis vs. Murder, Inc.: The Rise and Fall of the Jewish Mafia and an Ill-fated Prizefighter, New York, N.Y.: St. Martin’s Press, →ISBN, page 287:

The flies in the ointment are that Harry is a commitment-phobe, and the young doctor, Julian (Keanu Reeves), who is half Erica's age, is smitten with her. Naturally, the obstacles are overcome, and the happy pair is reunited, in a validation of middle-aged romance.

2007, Mary G. Hurd, “The Mainstream”, in Women Directors and Their Films, Westport, Conn.: Praeger Publishers, Greenwood Publishing Group, →ISBN, page 22:

Today's action is a reminder of just how fickle markets can be. The earnings themselves were not awful, but the market has priced tech to near perfection and thus one fly – maybe even a fruit fly – in the ointment could perpetuate a sell-off.

2020 October 31, Vildana Hajric, quoting Yousef Abbasi, “Tech Rout Sends Stocks to Worst Week Since March: Markets Wrap”, in Bloomberg News, archived from the original on 2020-11-05:

But Patel said there was a “fly in the ointment”, noting that between the first results and the new data, uncertainty has increased around the theoretical prediction of the frequency.

2023 August 11, Nicola Davis, “Scientists may be on brink of discovering fifth force of nature”, in The Guardian:

But there is one fly in the ointment, which is only too evident at Queen Street and Central... buddleia.

2024 November 13, Paul Bigland, “Much to admire... but pockets of neglect”, in RAIL, number 1022, page 49:

(idiomatic) Something (especially a minor thing) which ruins or spoils everything else, or makes it less pleasant; a nuisance or problem; a disagreeable or unpleasant detail.

лы́жка дзёгцю ў бо́чцы мёду

something which ruins or spoils everything else, or makes it less pleasant

美中不足 (měizhōngbùzú, literally “almost perfect”)

ло́жка дёгтя f (lóžka djógtja, literally “a spoonful of tar”)

ло́жка дёгтя в бо́чке мёда f (lóžka djógtja v bóčke mjóda, literally “a spoonful of tar in a barrel of honey”)

ло́жка дьо́гтю в бо́чці ме́ду (lóžka dʹóhtju v bóčci médu, literally “a spoonful of tar in a barrel of honey”)


sandfly

(US) A biting midge (family Ceratopogonidae).


oestrus

oestrus (countable and uncountable, plural oestruses or oestri)

Borrowed from Latin oestrus (“gadfly, sting, frenzy”), from Ancient Greek οἶστρος (oîstros), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁eys-, used to form words denoting passion; see also Latin īra (“anger”), Lithuanian aistra (“violent passion”), Avestan 𐬀𐬈𐬯𐬨𐬀 (aesma, “anger”).

[…] and which is produced by the larvae of oestri and particularly of Oestrus hemorrhoidalis.

1915, American Veterinary Review, page 407:

If this is inseparable from the oeconomy of nature, it necessarily follows that man must be subject to the depredations of oestri, ichneumons, . . . and perhaps, thousands of others, which the senses, aided by the directions of a correct understanding, may be able to trace in a way that will fall very little short of absolute demonstration.

1963, Bacteriological Reviews, page 92, column 1:

(countable) A biting fly of the genus Oestrus; a botfly.


chironomid

Fossil chironomids have proven useful as indicators of climatic change.

(entomology) Any of the non-biting midges or Chironomidae, a family of true flies within the order Diptera.


filariasis

filariasis (countable and uncountable, plural filariases)

Any disease common in tropical and subtropical countries resulting from infestation of the lymphatic system with nematode worms of the superfamily Filarioidea, transmitted by mosquitoes: characterised by inflammation.

lymphatic filariasis caused by Wuchereria bancrofti

subcutaneous filariasis caused by Loa loa

serous cavity filariasis caused by Mansonella perstans and Mansonella ozzardi


polverine

polverine (countable and uncountable, plural polverines)

From Italian polverino, from Latin pulvis (“dust”).

Mosquitoes and polverines, little midges so small as to be scarcely visible, rose in a cloud from the water and settled on our hands and faces.

1946, Kenneth Walker, I talk of dreams: an experiment in autobiography, page 145:

The polverines, however, were so small and numerous that even though we massacred fifty with a slap it seemed to make no difference to the hazy black cloud which hung around our heads.

1980, David Attenborough, The Zoo Quest Expeditions: Travels in Guyana, Indonesia, and Paraguay, →ISBN:

But all were more tolerable than those polverines.

1991, MS Aufdemberge, The Mission Efforts of the Slovak Evangelical Lutheran Synod in the Chaco Province of Argentina:

(countable) A tiny biting insect found in South America.


medfly

Our efforts are directed against species of African origin because these include several notorious pests (such as medfly, Ceratitis capitata), as well as some of the most poorly known ones (species of Dacus feeding on cucurbits).

(Can we date this quote?), United States Department of Agriculture, AFRICAN TEPHRITIDAE: INVASIVE SPECIES THREATENING U.S. FRUIT & VEGETABLE PRODUCTS:

A small fruit fly (Ceratitis capitata), native to the Mediterranean.


namu

From Maori namu. Compare Malay nyamuk (“a mosquito”).


no-see-um

(US, chiefly Southern US) Any biting midge (family Ceratopogonidae), small flies (1–4 mm long); sometimes the species Leptoconops torrens in particular.


mossie

Diminutive formed from mosquito. Compare Dutch meuzie (“mosquito”).

She came out, standing a head taller than him, tugging a loose cotton shift into place, and made for a rough brick fireplace beside a pile of rusting pots and pans.
‘Come inside,’ Willi said. ‘The mossies will eat you alive out here.’

1996, Patricia Shaw, The Opal Seekers, unnumbered page:

Tip 1 : Make sure there is clearance between your body and the net. If the net touches your skin, the mossie will be able to bite you through it.

2003, Jack Lagan, A B Sea: A Loose-Footed Lexicon, page 211:

He had becoms full of Bay intelligence about mosquito repellent measures. Apart from the obvious—mossie coils, citronella candles, zappers, fine nets suspended over beds and Rid roll-on or spray—he decided to invest in bush gear from an army disposal store. The mossies, who know a city slicker when they bite one, had been stinging clear through his Calvin Clone T-shirts from the Hong Kong markets and feasting on his bare arms as if presented with a juicy buffet.

2012, Susan Kurosawa, Coasting: A Year by the Bay, unnumbered page:

(UK, Australia, New Zealand, colloquial) A mosquito.


dengue fever

/ˈdɛŋɡeɪ ˈfiːvə/

/ˈdɛŋɡiː ˈfiːvɚ/

/ˈdɛŋɡeɪ ˈfiːvɚ/

Via Spanish, a corruption of Swahili ki denga pepo, meaning "cramp-like seizure caused by an evil spirit".

An acute febrile and sometimes hemorrhagic disease endemic to the tropics, caused by varieties of the species Dengue virus, and primarily transmitted to humans from mosquitoes, though human-to-human transmission is also well documented.


breakbone fever

Coinage attributed to Benjamin Rush because of the symptoms of myalgia and arthralgia.


kade

Melophagus ovinus
Melophagus ovinus#Translingual


punkie

Possibly an alteration of the first two syllables of pumpkinseed (“the North American sunfish Lepomis gibbosus”) + -ie (diminutive suffix).

But, although anything but a wary fish, the sunfish is not easy to catch because of its small mouth. Unless a small hook is used, meager results are secured in proportion to the antics of the cork or bobber, which in good "punkie" territory is likely to jiggle, stand on end and depart bottomward on short notice.

1949 October–November, John R. Greeley, “Sunfishes”, in P. W. Fosburgh, editor, New York State Conservationist, volume 4, number 2, Albany, N.Y.: State of New York Conservation Department, →OCLC, page 14, column 2:

(US) Synonym of pumpkinseed (“a North American sunfish, Lepomis gibbosus”).


Rift Valley fever

(pathology) A mosquito-borne, acute, febrile, viral disease of humans and animals, caused by an RNA virus of the genus Phlebovirus, which occurs in northern and eastern Africa.


RVF

Rift Valley fever
Rift Valley fever#English

(pathology) Initialism of Rift Valley fever.


March fly

Any of the family Bibionidae of dark hairy flies.

Leo crushed a couple of March flies to death on his splendid mahogany thigh and looked at her speculatively.

1979, Thea Astley, Hunting the Wild Pineapple, Nelson, page 130:

There were other, less pleasant forms of life, too; March flies with a spike-like proboscis I thought would have no trouble going through a pine board.

1988, Tom Cole, Hell West and Crooked, Angus & Robertson, published 1995, page 237:

(Australia, New Zealand) Any of the bloodsucking horseflies of family Tabanidae.

Tipula hortulana (syn. Bibio hortulanus), now of family Tipulidae of crane flies.


black vomit

A fever, with yellow skin and black vomit in some of the cases, appeared among a party of forty men.

1833, chapter 2, in Cyclopædia of practical medicine, page 295:

Black vomit is nothing but a hœmorrhage from the stomach, and may exist in any degree, from a few particles of blood mixed, as it were, into a quantity of light glairy fluid, presenting the appearance of floating dark specks or flocculi, to that of a rapid and profuse discharge of pure red blood.

1854 May 16, Daniel Drake, The Western Journal of Medicine and Surgery, page 369:

On the third or fourth day, or later, the vomited matters..begin to contain blood..and they soon assume..a coffee-ground character, constituting the so-called black vomit.

1876, John S. Bristowe, A treatise on the theory and practice of medicine, published 1878, page 199:

(obsolete) A blackish matter, resembling coffee grounds and due to hæmorrhage, vomited in severer cases of yellow fever; also, the disease of yellow fever itself.


leatherjacket

Any of several brightly coloured tropical fishes, of the family Balistidae, including the filefish and the triggerfish; leatherfish

Any of several Atlantic fishes, of the genus Oligoplites, that have a leathery skin; leatherjack


anopheles

From Ancient Greek ἀνωφελής (anōphelḗs, “useless”).

der

Analogy with the malaria-carrying mosquito points to the various kinds of anopheles, and perhaps to some species of the ordinary mosquito or culex, as being possible bearers of the disease.

1901 May 24, H. Watkins-Pitchford, “Horse-sickness investigation”, in The Agricultural Journal and Mining Record, volume 4, number 6, page 162:

‘I brought it back from the desert – they have been planting rice like fools, and now you get anopheles right up to the gates of Alexandria!’

1983, Lawrence Durrell, Sebastian, Faber & Faber 2004 (Avignon Quintet), p. 1125

(entomology) Loose terminology for species in the Anopheles genus of mosquitoes, some of which may transmit various parasites, Plasmodium, that are the cause of malaria. More strictly speaking, as Anopheles is a proper name it should be capitalised.

малари́чен кома́р

member of the Anopheles genus of mosquitos


wiggler

(physics) A magnet designed to make a beam of charged particles follow a curving path in an accelerator.


aëdes

A mosquito, specifically a mosquito of the genus Aedes.


screwworm

The larva of the fly Cochliomyia hominivorax (New World screwworm) or Chrysomya bezziana (Old World screwworm). The larvae are parasitic in humans and animals and are distinctive in eating living flesh of mammals, unlike most maggots, which eat only dead flesh.


ked

Pouring with tobacco liquor is fatal to these insects, and also to the ked, Hippobosca ovina, and to the tick, Acarus reduvius, if it fairly reach them.

1839, Rev. Dr Singer, Flies and other insects hurtful to live stock, &c.: Transactions of the Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland, page 132:

The common differential diagnoses include cutaneous myiasis, sheep scab and lice; however, keds are readily visible to the naked eye.[…]Adult keds are 4-6 mm long, dark red and readily visible on the neck and forelimbs.

2006, Philip R. Scott, Sheep Medicine, page 263:

They watch the sheep for signs of insects or pests, such as sheep keds and sheep lice, that can irritate the sheep causing them to scratch their fleece against fences or troughs and damage or tear the wool.

2007, Carrie Gleason, The Biography of Wool, page 12:

Any of the family Hippoboscidae of obligate parasites, especially the sheep ked, Melophagus ovinus.


apple midge

Any midge whose larvae cause damage to apples.


flyblow

An egg laid by a fly in animal flesh; a maggot hatched from such an egg.


non-biting midge

en-noun

non-biting midge (plural non-biting midges)

Any of various small two-winged flies, belonging to the family Chironomidae in the order Diptera.


Japanese encephalitis

(pathology) A viral disease prevalent in south-east Asia, caused by Japanese encephalitis virus transmitted by mosquito.


chikungunya

/t͡ʃɪkʊŋˈɡʊnjə/

/ˌt͡ʃɪkənˈɡʌnjə/

Borrowed from Makonde chikungunya (“that which bends up”), apparently referring to the arthritic effects of the disease. See -kunja, a suffix related to bending. Compare Swahili kunja (“to bend, to fold”).

bor

Chikungunya and dengue arboviral diseases are in expansion throughout the world.

2007, Didier Fontenille, Anna Bella Failloux, Roberto Romi, “Should we expect Chikungunya and Dengue in Southern Europe?”, in Willem Takken, Bart G. J. Knols, editors, Emerging Pests and Vector-borne Diseases in Europe, page 169:

The fever of Chikungunya is characterized by a rapid rise in temperature to as high as 40 C, often accompanied by rigors, myalgia, headache, photophobia, retro-orbital pain, sore throat with objective signs of pharyngitis, nausea, and vomiting.

2010, Stephen A. Berger, Infectious Diseases of Zimbabwe, page 55:

Chikungunya infections are caused by an alphavirus from the family Togaviridae.

2011, Franz J. Conraths, Thomas C. Mettenleiter, Chapter 13: Infectious Diseases Under the Influence of Changing Environmental Factors, page 256:

Chikungunya virus
Chikungunya virus#Translingual

A viral fever caused by the Chikungunya virus, an alphavirus spread by mosquito bites.

基孔肯雅熱 /基孔肯雅热

a viral fever caused by an alphavirus spread by mosquito bites


sandflea

Any insect of the species or genus of flying, biting, blood-sucking dipteran encountered in sandy areas.


malaria mosquito

en-noun

malaria mosquito (plural malaria mosquitos)

Any of the closely-related malaria-spreading mosquitos of the genus Anopheles, especially Anopheles gambiae.

malariasääski

malaria-spreading mosquito of the genus Anopheles


dipteran

PIE word
 *dwóh₁
Immediately from translingual Diptera + -an, for denoting taxonomic specification, as opposed to instances where "fly" is used informally. From Ancient Greek δίπτερος (dípteros, “two-winged”) + -an, from δι- (di-, “two, di-”) + πτερόν (pterón, “feather, wing”) + -ος (-os, “adjectival suffix”).

af

two, <i class="Latn mention" lang="en">di-</i>

(entomology) Relating to or denoting dipterans.


apple leaf midge

en-noun

apple leaf midge (plural apple leaf midges)

Dasineura mali
Dasineura mali#Translingual

A pest of apple trees (Dasineura mali, syns. Sciara mali, Malobrus mali, Perrisia mali)


gleg

en-adj

gleg (comparative glegger, superlative gleggest)

glegger (comparative)
gleggest (superlative)

One patted her neck, and assured her she was the gleggest and bonniest young thing she had ever seen.

1856, Thomas Hamilton, The Youth and Manhood of Cyril Thornton, page 279:


flavivirus

Any arbovirus of the genus Flavivirus, many of which are transmitted by ticks or mosquitos


gall midge

Any insect of the Cecidomyiidae family, whose larvae damage crops and other plants, creating galls on the stems and other fleshy parts.


Paul Allen's flower fly

en-noun

Paul Allen's flower fly (plural Paul Allen's flower flies)

Named after Paul Allen, co-founder of Microsoft.

Eristalis alleni, a species of flower fly from Costa Rica.


Bill Gates' flower fly

Bill Gates' flower fly (plural Bill Gates' flower flies)

Named after Bill Gates, co-founder of Microsoft.

Eristalis gatesi
Eristalis gatesi#Translingual

A species of flower fly from Costa Rica, Eristalis gatesi.


culex

Any of various mosquitoes of the genus Culex, some of which carry disease.


skeeter

Clipping of a variant pronunciation of mosquito. Compare tater, mater.

One day brought the rain and the rain stayed on
And the swamp water overflowed.
Skeeters and the fever grabbed the town like a fist
Doctor Jackson was the first to go.

1973, “Swamp Witch”, in Jim Stafford (lyrics), Jim Stafford, performed by Jim Stafford:


hippo fly

A species of biting horsefly, found around southern Africa, Tabanus biguttatus.


hippoboscid

Various species of hippoboscid will attack humans, and the bite of the pigeon fly, Pseudolynchia canariensis, is said to be painful. Apart from the sheep ked, hippoboscids are of little importance to humans.

2005, M. J. Lehane, The Biology of Blood-Sucking in Insects, page 252:

Several hippoboscid flies have been identified as vectors of Haemoproteus species,haemosporidian blood parasites that cause bird malarias.

2009, Gary R. Mullen, Lance A. Durden, editors, Medical and Veterinary Entomology, unnumbered page:

Howard (1981:52– 73) found 22.5 percent of 240 scaled quail collected in Pecos County infested with the hippoboscid fly Pseudolynchia canariensis (see table 6.4 for the prevalence of parasitic arthropods, nematodes, and cestodes found on scaled quail in Pecos County).

2007, Markus J. Peterson, Diseases and Parasites of Texas Quails, page 93:

Any of the species in the Hippoboscidae family of parasitic flies.


tephritid

A member of the Tephritidae, a family of fruit flies.


tachinid

Any of the family Tachinidae of tachina flies.


green bottle fly

green bottle fly (plural green bottle flies)

(entomology) Any of the flies in the genus Lucilia (alias Phaenicia).

groene vleesvlieg

flies in the genera Lucilia and Phaenicia


biting midge

Any Ceratopogonidae, a family of small flies (1-4 mm long) in the order Diptera.


Mediterranean fruit fly

Mediterranean fruit fly (plural Mediterranean fruit flies)

A fruit fly of species Ceratitis capitata, capable of wreaking extensive crop damage.


muscid

en-adj

muscid (comparative more muscid, superlative most muscid)

more muscid (comparative)
most muscid (superlative)

Pertaining to or related to the Muscidae family of insects.


muscid

Any fly of the family Muscidae of insects.


stable fly

Any of several medium-sized flies in the genus Stomoxys, of the family Muscidae that includes the housefly. The genus is unusual among members of that family, in that they suck blood from mammals.


syrphid

2008, Robert L. Bugg, Ramy G. Colfer, William E. Chaney, Hugh A. Smith, James Cannon, Flower Flies (Syrphidae) and Other Biological Control Agents for Aphids in Vegetable Crops, University of California Division of Agriculture an Natural Resources, Publication No. 8285, page 12,
Because they are strong fliers and able to hover and inspect foliage for aphids, syrphids may be especially good at locating aphid colonies.

A single syrphid larva can consume hundreds of aphids during its development. Syrphid larvae also feed on other soft-bodied insects, such as mealybugs, psyllids, and whiteflies. Adult syrphids, also called flower flies or hover flies, are not predaceous.

2012, Steve H. Dreistadt, Integrated Pest Management for Citrus, Third Edition, page 94:

The impact of syrphids has seldom been assessed and their role may be underestimated due to their nocturnal feeding behavior.

2012, Vaughn M. Walton, Kent M. Daane, Pia Addison, “Biological Control of Arthropods and Its Application in Vineyards”, in Noubar J. Bostanian, Charles Vincent, Rufus Isaacs, editors, Arthropod Management in Vineyards: Pests, Approaches, and Future Directions, page 99:

Any species of the hoverfly family Syrphidae.


syrphian

syrphian (comparative more syrphian, superlative most syrphian)

more syrphian (comparative)
most syrphian (superlative)

Of or relating to flies of the genus Syrphus or the family Syrphidae.


syrphian

A fly of the genus Syrphus or the family Syrphidae.


Ross River fever

In 1959, the virus was identified in samples from a mosquito (Aedes vigilax) trapped in the Ross River, located in Townsville, Queensland, Australia.

Epidemic polyarthritis, a mosquito-borne infectious disease caused by infection with Ross River virus.


tipulid

of or pertaining to craneflies (insects of the family Tipulidae)


tabanid

From taxonomic family name Tabanidae, ultimately from Latin tabānus (“gadfly, horsefly”).

Of or pertaining to species of the horsefly family, Tabanidae.


blowie

"I said," my friend says on the phone, "I can call the cops and have you arrested or you can give me a blowie."

2008, Shane Lindemoen, Empire Dirt, Fallen Publishing, page 91

‘I didn′t mind being groped by him,’ Crystal replied. ‘He was cute. In fact I′m looking forward to later; don′t I have to pretend to give him a blowie?’

2010, Zoe Foster, Playing the Field, Round 23: The Enchantress vs The Press, unnumbered page,
‘A brothel. Anyway, they got kicked out ′cos one of them – not Josh – took photos on his mobile of some bird giving him a blowie, and she flipped out.’


gallinipper

18thC. Origin unknown. Earlier forms were gurnipper and gal-knipper. Second element is probably nipper; first element may have become influenced by galley.

And when darkness comes and they leave off, the mosquitoes and the gallinippers join hands to take their place and suck out blood and annoy us until the first day brings its light.

2011, Roger Abrahams, African American Folktales: Stories from Black Traditions in the New World, page 55:

(US) Any large insect that bites, for example, certain large mosquitos.


epidemic polyarthritis

Polyarthritis caused by either of two mosquito-borne viruses endemic to Australasia: Barmah Forest virus and Ross River virus.


warble fly

Any member of the genus Hypoderma of large flies, parasitic on cattle and deer.


superfly

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-superfly.wav

A fly (insect) with remarkable properties, such as resistance to insecticide.


torsalo

A parasitic fly, Dermatobia hominis, which lives as a larva in the skin of mammals, including humans, and uses mosquitoes as a vector.


mufflehead

(US, dialect) A chironomid (non-biting midge).


zimb

Borrowed from Amharic ዝምብ (zəmb), ዝንብ (zənb).

The illustrious Bruce and others imagine, that in the zimb of Abyssinia they recognize the fly plague which afflicted the Egyptians.

1840, Robert Montgomery Martin, Colonial magazine and commercial-maritime journal: Volume 3, page 155:

The zimb-fly sometimes depopulates whole territories, causing man and beast to fly from the lowlands into the mountains or the desert. Both the scorpion and locust infest the country.

1854, Samuel Griswold Goodrich, A history of all nations, from the earliest periods to the present time, volume 2, page 608:

(archaic) An Ethiopian horsefly of the genus Pangonius, destructive to livestock.


midgie

From a corruption of midden + -y. Perhaps influenced by midge (“a haunt of midges”).

They did not have good clothes and were midgie-rakers. Their das done that, they just raked yer midgie and got yer old rubbish.

2008, James Kelman, Kieron Smith, Boy, Penguin, published 2009, page 32:

Just after dawn. It's the best time. For raking the midgies. When it's light enough to see but there's no one around.

2022, Liam McIlvanney, The Heretic, page 39:

(Scotland, colloquial) A dump, midden; trash bin.


glossinid

(zoology) Any member of the family Glossinidae, including the tsetse fly.


blepharicerid

(zoology) Any member of the Blephariceridae, or net-winged midges.


gnatling

the world's tiniest bat, which was smaller than a gnatling[…]

A gnatling's wind gives all its frame to ſigh

1782, James Elphinston, The Epigrams of M. Val. Martial:

[…]attack these gnatlings in their neſt


gnatworm

He that would behold a very anomalous motion, may observe it in the Tortile and tiring stroaks of Gnatworms

1658, Sir Thomas Browne, Hydriotaphia, page 160:

Here a rich insect-life had developped:^([sic]) Argynnis, wasps and Syrphidae, besides numerous dancing gnatworms.

1909, Adolf Severin Jensen, “On the Mollusca of East-Greenland”, in Meddelelser om Gronland, page 345:

The fry of kaluga fish, gnatworms, freshwater prawns, mysids, etc.

1962, Lev Semenovich Berg, Freshwater Fishes of the U.S.S.R. and Adjacent Countries, page 55:


mousie

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-mousie.wav

(fishing) A rat-tailed maggot used as bait.


gnit

From Middle English gnit, gnitte, from Old English *gnitte (“gnit; gnat”), from Proto-West Germanic *gnittā, from Proto-Germanic *gnittǭ (“gnat; midge”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰneHdʰn-, *gʰneHd- (“to gnaw, scratch”). Cognate with Low German gnid (“gnit”), German Gnitte, Gnitze (“midge, gnat”). Compare also Danish gnid (“gnat”), Swedish gnet (“nit”), Norwegian gnit (“gnat”), Icelandic gnit, nitur (“gnat”). Related to gnat.


longlegs

en-noun

longlegs (plural longlegs or longlegses)

No longlegses could make me jump like them queer creatures in a drop on it, […]

1855 August 11, “Mrs. Grundy on the Alteration of Food”, in Punch, or the London Charivari, volume 29, page 55:

Thinking with animals – be it with sheep and dogs or with longlegs, moths, dumbledores, and flies – allows Hardy and his readers to reconsider what it means to be part of “the whole conscious world collectively,” […]

2017, Anna West, Thomas Hardy and Animals, Cambridge University Press, page 87:


deerfly

When the sun comes out, it is totally delightful, except for the mosquitoes, and the blackflies, and the deerflies.

2004, Richard Fortey, The Earth, Folio Society, published 2011, page 161:

The basement was flooded and the couch was growing mildew, so we sat outdoors in the shadows of the trees in a screened tent with deerflies and mosquitoes buzzing outside.

2010, Siddhartha Mukherjee, The Emperor of all Maladies, Fourth Estate, published 2011, page 149:

It was not a horsefly and it was not a deerfly; it was bigger than either.

2017, Neil Gaiman, Norse Mythology, Bloomsbury Publishing, page 36:

Any of various species of fly which feed on deer, principally in genus Chrysops.


tipula

Related to Latin tippula (“water spider”).

Any of many species of long-legged dipterous insects belonging to Tipula and allied genera; a common crane fly.


father longlegs

father longlegs (plural father longlegs)


brize

The herd hath more annoyance by the brize, / Than by the tiger

c. 1602, William Shakespeare, Troilus and Cressida, act 1, scene 3, lines 48–49:


sarcophagan

In the Sarcophagans, or flesh-eaters, as the name implies, the bristles on the antennæ are feathered.

1841, Thaddeus William Harris, A Report on the Insects of Massachusetts: Injurious to Vegetation, volume 3, page 412:

This could prove a very important experiment: our difficulty is that there is no precise homology between the sarcophagan cuticle and that of other orders of insect; from the work of Wolfe (1954) and Dennell (1946) the dipteran epicuticle cannot be treated as having separate laminae of cuticulin and free lipid, such as we believe to be the state of affairs in other insects.

1964, Advances in Insect Physiology, volume 2:

Other insects, including a sarcophagan fly, a gnat, a sciarid fly, and two harmless mosquitoes dwell in the pitchers.

1968, Journal of the Arnold Arboretum, page 155:

See Chapters 2–5, and reduce the number of your Drosophila dissections to Sarcophagan levels!

2004, Daryl S. Henderson, Drosophila Cytogenetics Protocols, page 4:

(zoology) Any fly of the genus Sarcophaga.


muscoid

(zoology) Any fly in the superfamily Muscoidea.


Berna fly

A Brazilian dipterous insect of the genus Trypeta, which lays its eggs in the nostrils or in wounds of humans or animals.


lovebug

An insect, the honeymoon fly (Plecia nearctica, family Biblionidae).


shore fly

A tiny fly found near seashores or at smaller inland waters, such as ponds, of one the 1,500 species of the family Ephydridae.


deer fly

A louse fly, a species in the family Hippoboscidae (Lipoptena cervi), parasites of elk, deer and other bovine animals, sucking blood and laying eggs in the fur of the host animals, found in Eurasia.


deer ked

A Eurasian species of louse fly in the family Hippoboscidae, Lipoptena cervi, that are parasites of elk, deer and other bovine animals, sucking blood and laying eggs in the fur of the host animals.


brine fly

An insect of some species in the family Ephydridae.


mosquito hawk

(US, regional) A crane fly (US) / daddy longlegs (UK), a large, mosquito-like insect in the suborder Tipulomorpha


dronefly

I took a large grey Drone-Fly, that had a large head, but a small a slender body in proportion to it, and cutting off its head, I fix'd it with the forepart or face upwards upon my Object Plate […].

1665, Robert Hooke, Micrographia, section XXXIX:


bull-fly

Any large fly troublesome to cattle, such as a gadfly.


canker fly

Siebenkäs, in a voice of wrath, now turned bis seat of judgment into a penitent's stool for the Venner, abusing him as a canker-fly of female buds, a dove-hawk, a house-breaker of the treasures of marriage.

1845 [1796], Edward Henry Noel, transl., Flower, Fruit and Thorn Pieces: Or, The Married Life, Death, and Wedding of the Advocate of the Poor, Firmian Stanislaus Sibenkas̈, translation of original by Jean Paul, page 240:

And I requite to you the years which the locust ate, the canker-fly, and the fledged locust, and the young locust, my great host which I sent among you.

1866, Rowland Williams, The Hebrew Prophets Translated Afresh from the Original, page 21:

That gnawing canker-fly, the printed book, sucks the life-blood out of the great stone pile.

1910 [1831], anonymous translator, The Hunchback of Notre-Dame, translation of original by Victor Hugo, page 176:

In many districts, moreover, the appearance of the "canker" fly had a very prejudicial effect upon the quality of the oil.

1890, Great Britain. Foreign Office, Diplomatic and Consular Reports: Annual series, page 21:


cyclorrhaphan

Because circumversion originated in the Platypezidae and persists through the highest forms of the Schizophora, because it is featured in the lowest and among the highest cyclorrhaphans, we are convinced that the suborder Cyclorrhapha is properly considered to be a monophyletic group.

1968, The Wasmann Journal of Biology, volume 26, page 103:

The apparent oldest cyclorrhaphan, Opetiala shatalkani, is a compression fossil wing from the Purbeck of England (ca. 140 MYO), and it precedes other early cyclorrhaphans by about 10 MY.

2005, David Grimaldi, Evolution of the Insects, page 533:

Unlike the proboscides of Lower brachyceran lineages, which are continuous with the head capsule and tend to dangle (Matsuda 1965), the proboscides of most cyclorrhaphan species are suspended by a membranous region and divided into three functional parts: the basiproboscis (rostrum), medioproboscis (haustellum), and distiproboscis (labellum), each of which is defined by internal muscles but also shares muscles with the other regions (Graham-Smith 1930; Lall and Davies 1971).

2012, Brian Wiegmann, The Evolutionary Biology of Flies, page 225:


horse bot fly

Any of a group of flies, Gasterophilinae, that are parasitic to equines.


acrocerid

The Acrocerids are very curious and characteristic flies on account of their small head, large, bulbous thorax, inflated abdomen and large thoracic squamulae.

1907, William Lundbeck, Diptera Danica: Genera and Species of Flies Hitherto Found in Denmark, G.E.C. Gad, →OCLC:

The winged form of acrocerids is characterized by a great reduction in the size of the head, by very great increase of the thorax with weak legs, and by small, often costalized wings; the flies feed, if at all, on the nectar of flowers.

1974, Boris B. Rohdendorf, The Historical Development of Diptera, University of Alberta Press, →OCLC, page 86:

(entomology) Any fly of the family Acroceridae.


agromyzid

(entomology) Any member of the family Agromyzidae.


xylomyid

(zoology) Any fly in the family Xylomyidae of wood soldier flies.


xylophagid

(zoology) Any fly in the family Xylophagidae.


anisopodid

(zoology) Any member of the Anisopodidae; wood gnats.


anthomyiid

(zoology) Any member of the fly family Anthomyiidae.

antomiídeo

any member of the fly family Anthomyiidae


anthomyzid

(zoology) Any fly in the family Anthomyzidae.


apiocerid

(zoology) Any fly in the family Apioceridae.


asilid

(zoology) Any member of the family Asilidae of robber flies.


asteiid

(zoology) Any of the flies in the family Asteiidae.


atelestid

(zoology) Any of the flies in the family Atelestidae.


athericid

(zoology) Any fly in the family Athericidae.


aulacigastrid

(zoology) Any fly in the family Aulacigastridae.


axymyiid

(zoology) Any member of the family Axymyiidae.


bibionid

(zoology) Any of the family Bibionidae of March flies.


bombyliid

(zoology) Any member of the family Bombyliidae, the bee flies.


borborid

(zoology) Any fly of the family Borboridae (now Sphaeroceridae).


braulid

(zoology) Any of the wingless parasitic flies in the family Braulidae, the bee lice.


calliphorid

(entomology) Any fly in the family Calliphoridae.


camillid

(zoology) Any fly of the family Camillidae.


canacid

(zoology) Any fly of the family Canacidae.


carnid

(zoology) Any member of the family Carnidae of flies.


cecidomyiid

(zoology) Any gall midge in the family Cecidomyiidae.


celyphid

(zoology) Any fly of the family Celyphidae.


ceratopogonid

Clipping of translingual Ceratopogonidae

clipping

translingual <i class="Latn mention" lang="mul">Ceratopogonidae</i>

(zoology) Any biting midge in the family Ceratopogonidae.


chamaemyiid

(zoology) Any fly of the family Chamaemyiidae.


chaoborid

(zoology) Any of phantom midges in the family Chaoboridae.


chloropid

/klɔːˈɹɒpɪd/

(zoology) Any member of the family Chloropidae (frit flies).


chyromyid

(zoology) Any fly of the family Chyromyidae.


clusiid

(zoology) Any fly of the family Clusiidae.


coenomyiid

(zoology) Any fly in the family Coenomyiidae, now considered to be the xylophagid subfamily Coenomyiinae.


conopid

(zoology) Any fly of the family Conopidae.


corethrellid

(zoology) Any midge in the family Corethrellidae.


ctenostylid

(zoology) Any fly of the family Ctenostylidae.


culicid

(zoology) Any mosquito in the family Culicidae.


curtonotid

(zoology) Any fly of the family Curtonotidae.


cuterebrid

(zoology) Any fly in the family Cuterebridae, now considered to be the oestrid subfamily Cuterebrinae.


cylindrotomid

(zoology) Any crane fly in the family Cylindrotomidae.


cypselosomatid

(zoology) Any fly of the family Cypselosomatidae.


cyrtid

(zoology) Any fly in the family Cyrtidae.


deuterophlebiid

Although rarely collected, deuterophlebiids can be abundant in some streams.

1991, Hugh F. Clifford, Aquatic Invertebrates of Alberta: An Illustrated Guide, page 399:

(zoology) Any fly of the family Deuterophlebiidae.


diastatid

(zoology) Any fly of the family Diastatidae.


diopsid

(zoology) Any fly of the family Diopsidae.


ditomyiid

(zoology) Any fungus gnat in the family Ditomyiidae.


dixid

(zoology) Any midge in the family Dixidae.


dolichopodid

(zoology) Any fly in the family Dolichopodidae of long-legged flies.


drosophilid

Domestication and the evolution of anthrophilic traits in houseflies and some drosophilids have allowed certain species to attain cosmopolitan status.

2005, David K. Yeates, Brian M. Wiegmann, The Evolutionary Biology of Flies, page 372:

(zoology) Any member of the Drosophilidae.


dryomyzid

(zoology) Any fly in the family Dryomyzidae.


empidid

(zoology) Any fly of the family Empididae.


ephydrid

The ephydrids are especially prominent around inland salt and alkaline ponds and marshes and thermal and mineral springs.

1956, Robert Leslie Usinger, editor, Aquatic Insects of California, page 462:

A number of studies have been conducted on the abundance and distribution of numerous ephydrids, including Parydra in various habitats or on various substrates.

1985, Transactions of the American Entomological Society, page 362:

Another interesting example is ephydrids that colonize wood that has been heavily contaminated with human urine in ancient European buildings.

2013, Jill Lancaster, Barbara J. Downes, Aquatic Entomology, page 34:

(zoology) Any species of the shore fly family Ephydridae.


fanniid

(zoology) Any fly of the family Fanniidae.


gasterophilid

(zoology) Any botfly in the oestrid subfamily Gasterophilinae, formerly the family Gasterophilidae.


helcomyzid

(zoology) Any fly of the family Helcomyzidae.


heleid

(zoology) Any biting midge in the family Heleidae, a synonym of the Ceratopogonidae.


heleomyzid

Carrion in woods possibly has a distinctive fauna; the commonest flies are Piophila (especially Pnigriceps) and the heleomyzid Neoleria inscripta while Calliphoridae are less in evidence.

1978, Alan Stubbs, A dipterist's handbook, page 119:

Trixoscelids are scarcely distinguishable from heleomyzids.

1979, Memoirs of the Entomological Society of Canada:

The larvae of a small fly called a heleomyzid were present in some numbers on the body, suggesting that the burial probably took place at the end of winter or in early spring because eggs laid before winter would not have survived to produce larvae.

2013, Zakaria Erzinçlioglu, Maggots, Murder, and Men:

(zoology) Any member of the family Heleomyzidae of flies.


hybotid

(zoology) Any fly of the family Hybotidae.


ironomyiid

(zoology) Any fly of the family Ironomyiidae.


keroplatid

(zoology) Any fungus gnat of the family Keroplatidae.


lauxaniid

(zoology) Any member of the family Lauxaniidae of flies.


limoniid

(zoology) Any cranefly in the family Limoniidae.


lonchaeid

(zoology) Any fly of the family Lonchaeidae.


lonchopterid

(zoology) Any fly of the family Lonchopteridae.


micropezid

(zoology) Any fly of the family Micropezidae.


milichiid

(zoology) Any fly of the family Milichiidae.


mycetophilid

Borrowed from translingual Mycetophilidae.

(zoology) Any fungus gnat in the family Mycetophilidae.


mydaid

(entomology) Any member of the Mydidae; a Mydas fly.


mydid

(zoology) Any fly in the family Mydidae.


mythicomyiid

(zoology) Any fly of the family Mythicomyiidae.


nemestrinid

(zoology) Any fly of the family Nemestrinidae.


neottiophilid

(zoology) Any fly in the family Neottiophilidae, a synonym of the Piophilidae.


neriid

(zoology) Any fly of the family Neriidae.


nycteribiid

(zoology) Any fly of the family Nycteribiidae.


nymphomyiid

(zoology) Any fly in the family Nymphomyiidae.


odiniid

(zoology) Any fly of the family Odiniidae.


oestrid

(zoology) Any member of the family Oestridae, the botflies.


opomyzid

(zoology) Any fly of the family Opomyzidae.


pallopterid

(zoology) Any fly of the family Pallopteridae.


pantophthalmid

(zoology) Any fly of the family Pantophthalmidae.


pediciid

(entomology) Any fly in the family Pediciidae.


pelecorhynchid

(zoology) Any fly of the family Pelecorhynchidae.


phaeomyiid

(zoology) Any fly of the family Phaeomyiidae.


phlebotomid

(zoology) Any sandfly in the family Phlebotomidae.


piophilid

(zoology) Any member of the family Piophilidae of flies.


pipunculid

(zoology) Any fly of the family Pipunculidae.


platypezid

(zoology) Any fly of the family Platypezidae.


platystomatid

(zoology) Any fly of the family Platystomatidae.


pseudopomyzid

(zoology) Any fly in the family Pseudopomyzidae, now considered to be the cypselosomatid subfamily Pseudopomyzinae.


psychodid

(zoology) Any fly in the family Psychodidae


ptychopterid

(zoology) Any member of the Ptychopteridae.


pyrgotid

(zoology) Any fly of the family Pyrgotidae.


rachicerid

(zoology) Any fly in the family Rachiceridae, now considered to be the xylophagid subfamily Rachicerinae.


rhagionid

(zoology) Any fly of the family Rhagionidae.


rhinophorid

(zoology) Any fly in the family Rhinophoridae.


rhinotorid

(zoology) Any fly in the family Rhinotoridae, now considered to be the heleomyzid subfamily Rhinotorinae.


rhyphid

(zoology) Any gnat in the family Rhyphidae, a synonym for the Anisopodidae.


richardiid

(zoology) Any fly of the family Richardiidae.


ropalomerid

(zoology) Any fly of the family Ropalomeridae.


sapromyzid

(zoology) Any fly in the family Sapromyzidae, a synonym of the Lauxaniidae.


sarcophagid

(zoology) Any fly in the family Sarcophagidae, the flesh flies.


scathophagid

(zoology) Any fly of the family Scathophagidae.


scatopsid

(zoology) Any fly in the family Scatopsidae.


scenopinid

(zoology) Any of the family Scenopinidae of flies.


ulidiid

Unlike ulidiids, a few species are predaceous;[…].

2001, John Sivinski, “2: Breeding Habits and Sex in Families Closely Related to the Tephritidae: Opportunities for Comparstive Studies of Fruit Fly Behavior”, in Martin Aluja, Allen Norrbom, editors, Fruit Flies (Tephritidae): Phylogeny and Evolution of Behavior, page 27:

Decomposing plant fragments can be an important food resource in aquatic habitats, where it is consumed by the larvae of tipulids, ephydrids, ulidiids, and other groups.

2006, Richard W. Merritt, Gregory W. Courtney, Joe B. Keiper, “Diptera”, in Timothy D. Schowalter, editor, Insect Ecology: An Ecosystem Approach, 2nd edition, page 288:

Two orbital setae distinguish ulidiids.

2010, E. Geoffrey Hancock, “65: Richardiidae (Richardiid Flies)”, in B. V. Brown, A. Borkent, J. M. Cumming, D. M. Wood, N. E. Woodley, M. A. Zumbado, editors, Manual of Central American Diptera, volume 2, page 871:

picture-winged flies
picture-winged fly#English

(zoology) Any species of the family Ulidiidae, picture-winged flies.


vermileonid

(zoology) Any insect of the family Vermileonidae.


sciomyzid

(zoology) Any fly of the family Sciomyzidae.


sepsid

(zoology) Any member of the family Sepsidae of black scavenger flies.


simuliid

(zoology) Any blackfly in the family Simuliidae.


sphaerocerid

(zoology) Any fly of the family Sphaeroceridae.


stratiomyid

(zoology) Any fly of the family Stratiomyidae.


streblid

(zoology) Any member of the family Streblidae (now in Hippoboscidae) similar to botflies.


strongylophthalmyiid

(zoology) Any fly of the family Strongylophthalmyiidae.


sylvicolid

(zoology) Any gnat in the family Sylvicolidae, now considered to be part of the Anisopodidae.


syringogastrid

(zoology) Any fly of the family Syringogastridae.


tanyderid

(zoology) Any fly in the family Tanyderidae.


tanypezid

(zoology) Any fly of the family Tanypezidae.


tetanocerid

(zoology) Any fly in the family Tetanoceridae, now considered to be the sciomyzid tribe Tetanocerini.


tethinid

(zoology) Any fly in the family Tethinidae, now considered to be the canacid subfamily Tethininae.


thaumaleid

(zoology) Any midge in the family Thaumaleidae.


therevid

(zoology) Any fly in the family Therevidae.


thyreophorid

(zoology) Any fly in the family Thyreophoridae, a synonym of the Piophilidae.


trichocerid

(zoology) Any cranefly/daddy longlegs in the family Trichoceridae.


burrel fly

The botfly or gadfly of cattle (Hypoderma bovis).


zika

Dr Umair A Shah, executive director of the Harris County department of public health, said, “It’s probably not a case of if we get zika in our native mosquitoes, it’s probably a case of when we get zika in our native mosquitoes.”

2016 January 13, Jessica Glenza, “First case of tropical zika virus linked to serious birth defect found in Texas”, in The Guardian:


tachina

(zoology) Any of the genus Tachina of large tachinid flies, mostly parasitoids on lepidopteran caterpillars.


acalyptrate

From Acalyptratae + -ate (noun-forming suffix).

af

A muscoid fly belonging to the subsection Acalyptratae.


dungfly

From dung + fly, from its typical food source.

(zoology) A two-winged fly of the genus Scathophaga.


nematoceran

Of or relating to the Nematocera, a suborder of elongated flies with thin, segmented antennae and mostly aquatic larvae, consisting of the mosquitoes, crane flies, gnats, and midges.


moth fly

The short, hairy body and wings give these flies a moth-like appearance.

A fly of the subfamily Psychodinae of the nematoceran family Psychodidae.


Pogosta disease

Derived from Russian погост (pogost). Compare pogost.

A viral disease caused by Sindbis virus, encountered mainly in eastern Finland.


face fly

Face flies hibernate in large numbers as unmated adults in buildings, mammal burrows, and in other protected places, whether heated or not.

2005, William H. Robinson, Urban Insects and Arachnids: A Handbook of Urban Entomology, page 174:

As its name suggests, the face fly hovers around the cow's face. A cow will not eat if too many face flies are feeding around its eyes. The face fly’s habit of flying from cow to cow makes it an excellent vector of bovine pinkeye, which can lead to blindness.

2010, Leland S. Shapiro, Pathology & Parasitology For Veterinary Technicians 2E, Cengage Learning, page 136:

The face fly is usually a pest of grazing cattle. However, when horses are pastured with or close to cattle or when face flies are numerous, these flies will feed on secretions around the eyes of horses.

2012, Rick Parker, Equine Science, 4th edition, page 396:

A fly, Musca autumnalis, that resembles the housefly and is a pest of cattle and horses.


forest fly

A fly of the genus Hippobosca, especially Hippobosca equina; a horse tick.


filbert gall

A gall shaped like a hazelnut, growing in clusters on grapevines, produced by the larva of a gallfly (genus Cecidomyia).


hornet fly

(archaic) Any of the genus Asilus and allied genera of large, fierce dipterous robber flies (Asilidae) that often prey on insects larger than themselves to suck their blood, the males of which resemble hornets in coloring.


petroleum fly

Helaeomyia petrolei, a Californian fly whose larvae feed on dead insects that become trapped in naturally occurring petroleum pools.


bat tick

Any of various wingless dipterous insects that are parasitic to bats, such as some in genus Argas


onion fly

Delia antiqua, a cosmopolitan pest of crops, whose larvae or maggots feed on onions, garlic and other bulbous plants.


tomato gall

A large yellowish green gall, somewhat tinged with red, consisting of a mass of irregular swellings on the stems and leaves of grapevines, produced by the larva of a small two-winged fly (Lasioptera vitis).


cheese fly

Piophila casei, a small fly whose larvae infest cheese and other foods.


wine fly

Any of the genus Piophila of small two-winged flies.


bat fly

Any of the family Nycteribiidae of flattened, spider-like parasitic flies without eyes or wings.


scuttle fly

So called from the jerky short bursts of running in the adults.


bee louse

Any of the wingless parasitic flies in the family Braulidae


dance fly

Any of the flies in the family Hybotidae.


drain fly

Any species in the subfamily Psychodinae of the family Psychodidae.


vinegar fly

So called because it may breed in imperfectly sealed preserves and in pickles.

Any fly of the genus Drosophila, especially Drosophila melanogaster, the common fruit fly.


bee fly

From bee + fly. Compare Icelandic býfluga.

Any of the flies in the family Bombyliidae, with adults that look like bumblebees and larvae that are parasitic on the eggs or larvae of other insects.


mango fly

Cordylobia anthropophaga, a blowfly common in East and Central Africa. It is a parasite of large mammals (including humans, where it may cause myiasis) during its larval stage.


beetfly

Pegomya hyoscyami, a fly whose leaf miner larvae often damage the leaves of beets and other greens.


sheep ked

The sheep-ked, or kaid (Melophagus ovinus), is one of the most common and annoying pests to which the sheep is subject.

1852, H. D. Richardson, The pests of the farm, with instructions for their extirpation, page 128:

A wingless blood-feeding ked (louse fly) of sheep, Melophagus ovinus.


louse fly

A ked (parasitic fly of the family Hippoboscidae).


Zika disease

From Zika Forest, where the virus was discovered at a mosquito research facility of the Uganda Virus Research Institute.

A disease of humans, transmitted by mosquitoes, caused by the Zika virus, with symptoms similar to dengue fever and many other diseases, that also apparently causes microcephaly in the newborns of infected mothers.


wormlion

From worm + lion, by analogy with antlion.

The worm-lion dislike a damp environment; you will never, therefore, find its pit in wet soil. For preference it chooses the loose, dusty soil beneath an overhanging rock, or on the lee side of a dense bush or hedge, where it is protected from the rain.

Because larvae of antlions use a similar strategy to capture prey, the fly larvae are by analogy called wormlions. Their scientific names were also chosen to reflect their parallel lives. Antlions belong to the family Myrmeleontidae (myrmex = ant; leo = lion), and wormlions belong to the family Vermileonidae (vermi = worm; leo = lion).

2009, James B. Nardi, Life in the Soil: A Guide for Naturalists and Gardeners, page 179:


tiger mosquito

en-noun

tiger mosquito (plural tiger mosquitos or tiger mosquitoes)

tiger mosquitos (plural)
tiger mosquitoes (plural)

Health authorities in Paris have fumigated areas of the French capital for the first time to kill disease-carrying tiger mosquitoes whose rapid advance through northern Europe is thought to have been accelerated by climate change.

2023 September 1, “‘A first in Paris’: city fumigates for tiger mosquitoes as tropical pests spread, bringing disease”, in The Guardian, sourced from Agence France-Presse, →ISSN:

Aedes albopictus
Aedes albopictus#Translingual

Aedes polynesiensis
Aedes polynesiensis#Translingual

Any mosquito of the species Aedes albopictus (especially) or Aedes polynesiensis.


day-biter

Aedes is a well know^([sic]) day-biter (although it can bite at night too) and is best known as the carrier of the yellow fever and dengue viruses.

2005, Dom Colbert, MCQs in Travel And Tropical Medicine: A Primer of Travel Medicine:

An insect, especially a mosquito, that bites during the day.


night-biter

The anopheles associated by experience with malaria are, in the main, house-haunters and night-biters, and at night their victim mainly spends his time in a house, circumstances which make it likely that the house is important in the transmission of malaria.

1931 March 6, Clayton [Arbuthnot] Lane, Housing and Malaria: A Critical Summary of the Literature Dealing with the Subject (Series of League of Nations Publications; 3), Geneva: League of Nations Health Organisation, →OCLC, page 34:

She [the mosquito] may be a night-biter or a day-biter. She may give an alarm: a hum made by the beating of her wings. Or she may be absolutely silent.

1954 June, Gardner Soule, “How to fight mosquitoes”, in Popular Science, volume 164, number 6, New York, N.Y.: Popular Science Publishing Company, →ISSN, page 112:

He argued that since these embryos are so much more numerous in the blood at night than in the daytime, the insect must probably be a night-biter, and with this in mind he began to examine the commonest night-biting insect he knew, the mosquito Culex fatigans.

1965, Charles Wilcocks, “Transmission of Disease by Arthropods: Worms, Protozoa, Viruses, Bacteria”, in Medical Advance, Public Health and Social Evolution (The Commonwealth and International Library, Liberal Studies Division), Oxford: Pergamon Press, →OCLC, page 160:

[S]ome species of fish are night biters and some are not. Black sea bass are good night biters.

1977, Charlie [J. Charles] Davis, Hook Up: A Complete Guide to Southern California Ocean Sportfishing, Seattle, Wash.: Outdoor Empire Pub., →ISBN, page 110:

There are 3 main kinds of disease-transmitting mosquitoes: Anopheles, Culex, and Aedes. […] Anopheles are night biters and breed in clean water; Anopheles mosquitoes carry malaria and some filariasis.

2000, Mary Vanderkooi, Village Medical Manual: A Layman's Guide to Health Care in Developing Countries, 5th edition, volumes I (Principles and Procedures), Pasadena, Calif.: William Carey Library, →ISBN, page 198:

In the Philippines, the principal malaria vector is Anopheles minimus var. flavirostris, a night-biter which breeds in slow-flowing, partly shaded streams that abound in the foothill areas.

2008, Vicente Belizario Jr., “Epidemiology of Malaria in the Philippines”, in Gisela P. Padilla Concepcion, Eduardo A. Padlan, Caesar A[ya-ay] Saloma, editors, Selected Essays on Science and Technology for Securing a Better Philippines, volume I, Diliman, Quezon City: University of the Philippines Press, →ISBN, page 210:

In Honiara all the ward lights in the hospital were turned on at sunset and stayed on all night—an attempt to keep the night biter at bay: a practice that was only partially effective.

2015, Dick Galbraith, Curim Sickness Belong Eye, Corpus Christi, Tex.: Strategic Book Publishing and Rights Co., →ISBN, page 171:

An animal, especially an insect such as a mosquito, that bites during the night.


sugarcane soldier fly

sugarcane soldier fly (plural sugarcane soldier flies)

Inopus rubriceps, a pest of sugarcane in Australia.


Mydas fly

Descending the scale of hymenopterous life we come to the Pompilus (Fig. 61), which is mimicked by the large black Mydas fly, whose antennae are unusually long and hymenopterous-like.

Any fly of the family Mydidae, generally large in size.


Bulam fever

The disease was believed to have spread through contagion from a ship, the Hankey, that came from Bolama (then Bulam) in what is now Guinea-Bissau.

Authors have in general supposed the Bulam Fever to be only a higher grade of the Bilious Remittent, as this last is of the Intermittent; and the following eight points have been enumerated by Dr. Pinckard as a proof of their identity; to which eight points I beg to make the following replies.

1815, Sir William Pym, Observations Upon the Bulam Fever:

The President and one member (Mr. Pilleau) consider, that one attack of yellow or Bulam fever does give immunity from a second attack, except in rare instances.

1852, J. O. M'William, “Observations on that portion of the "Second report on quarantine," by the general board of health”, in The Medical Times and Gazette, volume 1, page 512:

Dr. Chisholm, the father of the Bulam fever, uses the following language […]

1855 July 16, John B. Porter, “On the Climate and Salubrity of Fort Moultrie and Sullivan's Island, Charleston Harbour, S. C.”, in The American Journal of the Medical Sciences, volume 30, page 49:


brachyceran

The investigations carried out by Bischoff on a considerable series of brachyceran heads led him to the conclusion that the mouth hooks of these Brachycera are the result of fusion of the maxillae with the mandibles.

1947, Edwin Francis Cook, The Evolution of the Head in the Larvae of the Diptera, page 11:

The fossil history of Chironominae and aquatic higher brachycerans is nearly unknown, and reported records in the literature need to be substantiated.

2006, A.P. Rasnitsyn, History of Insects, page 418:

Unlike the proboscides of Lower brachyceran lineages, which are continuous with the head capsule and tend to dangle (Matsuda 1965), the proboscides of most cyclorrhaphan species are suspended by a membranous region and divided into three functional parts: the basiproboscis (rostrum), medioproboscis (haustellum), and distiproboscis (labellum), each of which is defined by internal muscles but also shares muscles with the other regions (Graham-Smith 1930; Lall and Davies 1971).

2012, Brian Wiegmann, The Evolutionary Biology of Flies, page 225:


Jamestown Canyon virus

Jamestown Canyon virus (plural Jamestown Canyon viruses)

After Jamestown, Colorado, where the virus was first isolated in 1961 from Culiseta mosquitoes.

A North American orthobunyavirus, an arbovirus, that mostly in adults can cause fever, meningitis or meningoencephalitis.


root fly

Delia radicum, the cabbage fly, a pest on crops.


squatt

squatt (countable and uncountable, plural squatts)

(fishing) The larva of the common housefly; used as bait


eye fly

Electricity had paid no attention, and a colony of eye-flies had come instead and blackened the coils with their bodies.

1924, EM Forster, A Passage to India, Penguin, published 2005, page 93:

Any of various kinds of tiny black flies (especially of the family Chloropidae) which swarm around the eyes of people and animals.


calyptrate

From calypter + -ate (noun-forming suffix).


hippoboscoid

Any fly of the superfamily Hippoboscoidea


oestroid

en-adj

oestroid (comparative more oestroid, superlative most oestroid)

more oestroid (comparative)
most oestroid (superlative)

(entomology) Of or pertaining to the superfamily Oestroidea


tumbu fly

Cordylobia anthropophaga, a blowfly of East and Central Africa.


scatophage

From New Latin scatophagus, from Ancient Greek σκατοφάγος (skatophágos), from σκατο- (skato-, “shit”) and φάγος (phágos, “eater; glutton”), from φᾰγεῖν (phăgeîn, “to eat”) + -ος (-os, “-er”, forming agent nouns). Equivalent to scato- + -phage. In particular reference to dungflies, an anglicization of their genus Scatophaga.


Hessian fly

The fly was thought to have been accidentally imported into North America by Hessian soldiers during the Revolutionary War.

Mayetiola destructor, a species of fly that is a significant pest of cereal crops.


fungus gnat

Any small short-lived gnat of various families in the order Diptera, feeding on fungi or decaying plant matter.


rye-worm

The larva of a fly, Chlorops pumilionis, an agricultural pest which feeds on stems of several species of grain and other grasses.


culicoid

Any mosquito or midge of the dipteran superfamily Culicoidea


blue fly

Out of the upper part of the trunck grew the two wings […]: these in a blue Fly, were much longer then the body, but in other kind of Flies they are of very differing proportions to the body.

1665, Robert Hooke, Micrographica, section XLII:

A blue dipteran fly, especially the bluebottle, Calliphora vomitoria.


wheat midge

Various dipterous insects of the family Cecidomyiidae (gall midges, gall gnats) that are pests of wheat:


muggie

Borrowed from Afrikaans muggie, diminutive of mug, from Dutch mug, from Middle Dutch mugge.


cabbage fly

Delia radicum, a fly that is a pest on cabbages and other crops.


archiborborine

Any dipteran of the subfamily Archiborborinae


trypetid

Any fruit flyin the family Trypetidae, now considered to be the tephritid subfamily Trypetinae.


wheat fly

Any of several flies that destroy wheat crops, such as the Hessian fly and Contarinia tritici, also known as wheat midge and by other common names.


asphondyliine

Any gall midge of the tribe Asphondyliini


lasiopterine

Any gall midge of the tribe Lasiopterini


tephritoid

(zoology) Any fly of the superfamily Tephritoidea.


culicomorph

(entomology) Any insect in the infraorder Culicomorpha, which includes mosquitos, blackflies, and many types of midges


rat-tailed maggot

en-noun

rat-tailed maggot (plural rat-tailed maggots)

The aquatic larva of a hoverfly in either the tribe Eristalini or the tribe Sericomyini, which breathes through a tail-like air tube.


picture-winged fly

picture-winged fly (plural picture-winged flies)


freeloader fly

freeloader fly (plural freeloader flies)

A fly in the family Milichiidae, known for feeding off the prey caught by spiders or other predators.


frog-biting midge

frog-biting midge (plural frog-biting midges)

A small insect in the family Corethrellidae (related to mosquitos) that feeds on the blood of frogs.


meniscus midge

A midge in the family Dixidae, whose larva lives in standing water just under the surface.


phantom midge

An insect in the dipteran family Chaoboridae.


glassworm

A phantom midge larva in the family Chaoboridae, which lives in freshwater and is nearly transparent.


caribfly

The Caribbean fruit fly Anastrepha suspensa


microdontine

Any hoverfly of the subfamily Microdontinae


blind-fly

blind-fly (countable and uncountable, plural blind-flies)

I caught a number of that species of Tabanidae which has a large, grey-striped body, greenish-yellow eyes, and entirely transparent wings. This is locally termed the "blind fly" and it feeds on blood.

1898, Arthur Dunley-Owen, The Lancet: The Blind Fly and the locust in the evolution of the malaria parasite:

While the bite of a mosquito or a tsetse fly may not be noticed, the bite of a blind-fly is very painful. The female takes about five minutes to gorge itself with blood and when it leaves the host animal its abdomen is so distended that it must fly with difficulty. Once it has started to probe it can be killed or picked off with the fingers quite easily. It is perhaps because of this that the name blind fly came to be used for a fly which has large eyes and is by no means blind.

1961 June 8, Robert Barrass, New Scientist: The Visual Sense in "Blind-Flies":

(countable) Any of several medium-sized blood-sucking flies, of the family Tabanidae, usually species in the genus Haematopota.


orthoclad

Any midge of the chironomid subfamily Orthocladiinae


leaf-miner fly

leaf-miner fly (plural leaf-miner flies)

From leaf + miner (the larva feeds on leaves from the inside) + fly.

com

A fly in the family Agromyzidae, most larvae of which are leaf miners on various plants.


limonid

(organic chemistry) Any glycoside of limonin


swede midge

Named after the swede, which is a host plant for the insect.

The galls were first discovered in 2012 and attributed to infestation by the swede midge, Contarinia nasturtii (Kieffer)...

2019 February 15, Boyd A. Mori et al., “A new species of Contarinia Rondani (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae) that induces flower galls on canola (Brassicaceae) in the Canadian prairies”, in Canadian Entomologist, volume 151, →DOI, pages 131–148:

Contarinia nasturtii, a gall midge pest of Brassicaceae.


sorghum midge

the sorghum midge and the clover midge make it nearly impossible to grow the seed of these plants in certain sections

1940, Ephraim Porter Felt, Plant Galls and Gall Makers, page 27:

Contarinia sorghicola, a gall midge pest of sorghum.


cluster fly

Cluster flies (Pollenia rudis (Fabricius) ) become a serious problem and a major pest in rural homes, churches, and other structures in the autumn when they enter buildings to hibernate, and again in the spring when they seek ways to escape to the outside.

1960 July 1, David Pimentel, Benjamin Epstein, “The Cluster Fly, Pollenia rudis (Diptera: Calliphoridae)”, in Annals of the Entomological Society of America, volume 43, number 4, →DOI:

Any of several species of Pollenia, especially Pollenia rudis, with the habit of congregating in dwellings over the winter.


fox maggot

The biology and control of the fox maggot Wohlfahrtia opaca (Coq.)

1948, F. X. Gassner and Maurice T. Jameshttp://www.jstor.org/stable/3273240

The fox maggot (Wohlfahrtia spp.) is widely distributed throughout the Northern United States.

1960, J. R. Gorham et al., Minks: Diseases and Parasites, page 24:

One or possibly several species of the flesh fly genus Wohlfahrtia which cause myiasis in mammals.


eastern equine encephalitis

en-noun

eastern equine encephalitis (uncountable)

A rare mosquito-borne disease caused by a togavirus, affecting horses and humans in the Americas.


wolf worm

No matter what the inconvenience, you must be concerned with such things as screw worms, wolf worms, scabies, ticks, lumpy jaw, teat fever.

1965, Oren Arnold, Irons in the Fire: Cattle Brand Lore, Abelard-Schuman, page 57:

Even the pretty fawn is full of wolf worms in the summer

2003, Vic Chesnutt (lyrics and music), “Wren's Nest”, in Silver Lake:


muck fly

[T]he naturalist […] next appealed to the patron's approbation for a curious disquisition he had made, touching the procreation of muck flies, in which he had laid down a curious method of collecting, preserving and hatching the eggs of these insects, even in the winter, by certain modifications of artificial heat.

1751, Tobias Smollett, chapter 103, in The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle, volume IV:

Less appetizing were the hordes of green, shiny muck-flies which were to be found all over the island, even amid the thickest tussock.

1940, Erling Christophersen, translated by RL Benham, Tristan da Cunha, The Lonely Isle, page 200:

(obsolete) A fly found on, or associated with, dirt or dung.


phantom crane fly

phantom crane fly (plural phantom crane flies)

The common "phantom cranefly" may be easily recognized by the black and white banded legs and conspicuously swollen basitarsi.

1943 (1966 reprint), Charles P. Alexander, Guide to the Insects of Connecticut Part VI, First Fascicle, page 187


alkali fly

Ephydra hians (also known as Cirrula hians), a kind of brine fly.


kutsavi

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-kutsavi.wav

The pupae of the alkali fly used as food.


stiletto fly

Any of the predatory flies in the family Therevidae


window fly

Any of the flies in the family Scenopinidae, which are most commonly seen at windows.


long-legged fly

long-legged fly (plural long-legged flies)

Any of the predatory flies in the family Dolichopodidae, which tend to have long and slender legs.


snipe fly

From the prominent proboscis, resembling the beak of a snipe.


aegyptism

Aedes aegypti
Aedes aegypti#Translingual

(pathology) viral infection via the mosquito Aedes aegypti


sewer fly

Any of the family Psychodidae of true flies, sometimes found in plumbing drains and sewage systems.


aphid midge

A small dipterous insect (Aphidoletes aphidimyza), the larva of which feeds on various aphids.


Brues' soldier fly

Brues' soldier fly (plural Brues' soldier flies)

Nemotelus bruesii, a species of soldier fly.


corn blotch leafminer

corn blotch leafminer (plural corn blotch leafminers)

Agromyza parvicornis, a species of leaf-miner fly.


awl-fly

Any fly in the family Xylophagidae, which resemble ichneumon wasps.


dacine

clipping

translingual <i class="Latn mention" lang="mul">Dacinae</i>

Objective 3 included the incorporation of several thousand additional specimens into the web-accessible, Afrotropical tephritid database (M. De Meyer and I. White) and the revision of Afrotropical dacines (White).

(Can we date this quote?), United States Department of Agriculture, AFRICAN TEPHRITIDAE: INVASIVE SPECIES THREATENING U.S. FRUIT & VEGETABLE PRODUCTS:

(entomology) Any fruit fly of the tephritid subfamily Dacinae.


olive fly

This included work on 3 species of Psyttalia and on Tetrastichus giffardii by S. Mohamed. Identifications were provided for biocontrol programs on olive fly, and we made several attempts to collect more olive fly parasitoids in Kenya.

A fruit fly of species Bactrocera oleae.


lake fly

Any of various non-biting midges of the family Chironomidae, chironomids.


orange-spotted drone fly

en-noun

orange-spotted drone fly (plural orange-spotted drone flies)

Eristalis anthophorina, a species of dronefly.


dithrycine

clipping

translingual <i class="Latn mention" lang="mul">Dithrycini</i>

... Artemisia (B. Merz, unpublished data); however, Ptiloedaspis does not share synapomorphies with other dithrycines, which induce stem galls on Artemisia.

(Can we date this quote?), Phylogenetic relationships, ecology and ecological genetics of cecidogeneous Tephritidae. Raman, A., Schaefer, C. W., Withers, T. M., eds: Biology, Ecology and Evolution of Gall-Inducing Arthropods. Enfield, New Hampshire, USA:

(entomology) Any fly of the tribe Dithrycini.


devil's darning needle

en-noun

devil's darning needle (plural devil's darning needles)

Clematis virginiana, a vine native to the United States.


banana fly

The fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster).


noon fly

Mesembrina meridiana, a small, black-bodied fly with orangeish wings.


olive fruit fly

olive fruit fly (plural olive fruit flies)

Evidence from Drosophila, screwworm flies, olive fruit flies and fish all points to genetic adaptation to captivity involving rare alleles, deleterious in the wild and partially recessive there (Frankham 2008).

2009, Richard Frankham, “Genetic Architecture of Reproductive Fitness and its Consequences”, in Julius van der Werf, Hans-Ulrich Graser, Richard Frankham, Cedric Gondro, editors, Adaptation and Fitness in Animal Populations: Evolutionary and Breeding Perspectives on Genetic Resource Management, Springer, →ISBN, page 28:

According to the University of California’s Agriculture and Natural Resources department, the olive fruit fly (bactrocera oleae) poses not only a severe economic threat for the state’s cutting edge olive oil industry, but any one, individual fruit bearing ornamental olive tree, untreated on a private property, is at risk of exacerbating the problem.

2013 November 21, Frances Rivetti, “Olive harvest and the battle against fruit flies”, in Petaluma Argus-Courier, page C1:

“That’s a good question whether it can make that big jump from the Rocky Mountains into California, Hester said. “But you know anything is possible.” As proven with both the olive fruit fly and the emerald ash borer, invasive species often take big leaps.

2016 December 25, Chris Stewart, “Invasive beetle could put olive trees at risk”, in Dayton Daily News, volume 140, number 73, page A21:

Synonym of olive fly (Bactrocera oleae).


hayhenny

From Spanish jejenes, plural of jején (“midge”).

“That's only a hayhenny,” he explained. “Hayhennies are lilttle flies. The rising sun is waking 'em up.”

1922, Everybody's Magazine, volume 46, page 133:

Certainly the hayhennies and crowing roosters (at all times of nights) and the breathlessness of the “air” don't encourage one to slumbers.

(rare) A small biting midge (especially in Latin America); a noseeum.


apple maggot

Rhagoletis pomonella, a species of fruit fly that is a pest on apples.


snow fly

Chionea, a genus of cranefly known for remaining active in cold temperatures.


cabbage root fly

cabbage root fly (plural cabbage root flies)


rodent bot

Any of the botflies of the genus Cuterebra, which attack rodents and similar animals.