Culex

2 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  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]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

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