culex

2 definitions found

culex - Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 :

  Culex \Cu"lex\, n. [L., a gnat.] (Zool.)
     A genus of mosquitoes of the family Culicidae, to which
     most of the North American species belong. Some members of
     this genus are exceedingly annoying, as Culex sollicitans,
     which breeds in enormous numbers in the salt marshes of the
     Atlantic coast, and Culex pipiens, the common house
     mosquito, breeding very widely in the fresh waters of North
     America. (For characters distinguishing these from the
     malaria mosquitoes, see Anopheles, above). The yellow-fever
     mosquito is now placed in another genus, Stegomyia.
  
     Note: This genus formerly (ca. 1900) included the gnat as
           well as the mosquito.
           [Webster 1913 Suppl. +PJC]

culex - WordNet (r) 2.1 (2005) :

  Culex
      n 1: type genus of the Culicidae: widespread genus of mosquitoes
           distinguished by holding the body parallel to the resting
           surface [syn: Culex, genus Culex]