🦟 mosquito Emoji — Meaning, Copy & Paste

What Does the mosquito Emoji 🦟 Mean?

Drawn with long thin legs dangling beneath a slim body, narrow translucent wings, and that telltale piercing proboscis, the mosquito emoji nails the silhouette of the world's most annoying insect. It usually appears in shades of gray or brown so the wings and legs read clearly at small sizes. Summer is its peak season on social media, where it accompanies complaints about bites, backyard barbecues ruined, and camping trips that turned itchy.

Public-health posts about malaria, dengue, West Nile, and Zika lean on it as well — mosquitoes are technically the deadliest animals on Earth in terms of human deaths caused, and educational accounts often pair the emoji with that surprising statistic. Texters also use it for the metaphorical "buzzing" pest in their life, the annoying coworker or persistent ex who just won't leave them alone. Unicode 11.0 introduced it in 2018 partly as a response to advocacy from health organizations who wanted a clear icon for mosquito-borne disease awareness campaigns.