Mosquitoes (alternate spelling mosquitos) are a group of about 3500 species of small insects that are a type of fly (order Diptera). Within that order they constitute the family Culicidae (from the Latin culex meaning "gnat"). The word "mosquito" (formed by mosca and diminutive -ito)[2] is Spanish for "little fly".[3] Mosquitoes have a slender segmented body, a pair of wings, three pairs of long hair-like legs, feathery antennae, and elongated mouthparts.