gnat

[Middle English, from Old English gnæt.]

For more information on gnat, visit Britannica.com.

"Knat" redirects here. For the television station, see KNAT.

For other uses, see Gnat (disambiguation).

A gnat (pronounced /ˈnæt/ "nat") is one of several species of tiny flying insects in the Dipterid suborder Nematocera, especially those in the families Mycetophilidae, Anisopodidae and Sciaridae.

Male gnats often assemble together in large mating swarms, particularly at dusk, called a ghost.

Gnat larvae are mostly free-living and some are aquatic. Many feed on plants, though some are carnivorous. Larval plant feeders (e.g. the Hessian fly larva) cause root, stem, or leaf galls to be formed by the host plant. Some species of fungus gnats (families Mycetophilidae and Sciaridae) are very common pests of mushrooms and roots of potted plants in homes and greenhouses.

Some South American Pleurothallid orchids are pollinated by tiny gnats and have correspondingly small flowers.

See also

Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article Gnat.

• Black fly
• Eye gnat
• Gnat bug
• Gall gnats
• Sand gnat
• Dark-winged fungus gnat
• No-see-um
• Midge
• Mosquito
• Sandfly

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Dansk (Danish)
n. - myg

idioms:

• gnat bite    myggestik

Nederlands (Dutch)
mug

Français (French)
n. - moucheron

idioms:

• gnat bite    piqûre de moucheron

Deutsch (German)
n. - Mücke

idioms:

• gnat bite    Mückenstich

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - (εντομ.) σκνίπα, (Βρετ.) κουνούπι, (μτφ.) μικροενόχληση, μικροσκοπικό πράγμα

idioms:

• gnat bite    μικροενόχληση

Italiano (Italian)
zanzara, moscerino

Português (Portuguese)
n. - borrachudo (m) (Entom.) (Zool.), mosquito (m) (Entom.) (Zool.)

Русский (Russian)
комар, мошка, мелочь

Español (Spanish)
n. - mosquito, jején

idioms:

• gnat bite    picadura de mosquito

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - mygga, knott

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
蚋, 蚊

idioms:

• gnat bite    昆虫咬伤

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 蚋, 蚊

idioms:

• gnat bite    昆蟲咬傷

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 사람을 무는 작은 날벌레

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - ブヨ, 蚊

idioms:

• gnat bite    些細な事

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) بعوضه‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮יתוש, מטרד קטן, דבר קטן‬

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