Although many people get confused, these two insects are quite different, both in their habits and in the details of their anatomy. Stilts are larger than blackflies, which look like tiny flies. Pernilongo, by the way, is the popular name given to several mosquitoes of the Culicidae family, the best known being Aedes aegypti (dengue transmitter), Anopheles sp. (malaria vector) and Culex sp. (called “homemade mosquito”).
The borrachudo (Simulium sp.), also known as pium in the Amazon, is part of the Simulidae family. “These two insects inhabit different places: the first often lives inside houses or in their surroundings, while the borrachudo is found near streams and rivers with clear and transparent water”, says professor José Maria Soares Barata, from the Faculty of Public Health at the University of São Paulo (USP). In common, they have the fact that they are hematophagous, that is, they feed on blood. That’s why both don’t miss the opportunity to bite humans, to whom they can transmit various diseases. In addition to dengue and malaria, mosquitoes are capable of spreading elephantiasis, a disease characterized by swelling of the legs and other parts of the body. On the other hand, the borrachudo can develop onchocerciasis, which in some cases leads the sick person to blindness.
Both sting with their bites, but mosquitoes are bigger and thinner.
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In addition to being much larger (measuring about 10 millimeters), the black stilt has a thinner body and lighter color 1 than the black gnat. This one (which measures 6 millimeters) has the thickest and almost black body 2
NEEDLE X BITE
Used to suck blood, the mosquito’s mouthparts are made up of a kind of proboscis, which acts like a needle 3. The blackfly has a chewing mouthparts 4, which tears the skin tissue before sucking blood
WITHOUT GIVING WINGS TO CONFUSION
The wings of the black stilt have a series of scales that form different patterns of designs 5, while the wings of the black gnat are smooth and transparent 6
AWARE OF MEASUREMENTS
The legs and antennae of the black stilt are very long 7, especially when compared closely with the shorter legs and antennae of the blackfly 8