gnat
Sign in to saveAlso known as flies, gnats
thumb|Gnat from Robert Hooke's [[Micrographia, 1665]] thumb|A female black fungus gnat A gnat () (also knat) is any of many species of tiny flying insects in the dipterid suborder Nematocera, especially those in the families Mycetophilidae, Anisopodidae and Sciaridae. Most often they fly in large numbers, called clouds. "Gnat" is a loose descriptive category rather than a phylogenetic or other technical term, so there is no scientific consensus on what constitutes a gnat. Some entomologists consider only non-biting flies to be gnats. Certain universities and institutes also distinguish eye gna
~4 min read
Article
6 sectionsContents
- Description
- Life cycle
- Pollination
- Control
- See also
- References
thumb|Gnat from Robert Hooke's [[Micrographia, 1665]] thumb|A female black fungus gnat A gnat () (also knat) is any of many species of tiny flying insects in the dipterid suborder Nematocera, especially those in the families Mycetophilidae, Anisopodidae and Sciaridae. Most often they fly in large numbers, called clouds. "Gnat" is a loose descriptive category rather than a phylogenetic or other technical term, so there is no scientific consensus on what constitutes a gnat. Some entomologists consider only non-biting flies to be gnats. Certain universities and institutes also distinguish eye gnats: the Smithsonian Institution describes them as "non-biting flies, no bigger than a few grains of salt, ... attracted to fluids secreted by your eyes".
== Description == As nematoceran flies, adult gnats have antennae with at least six segments that are often long and slender. They are generally slender-bodied with long and narrow wings.