the london underground mosquito is a form of mosquito in the genus "culex". it is found in the london underground railway system as its name suggests, but has a worldwide distribution and long predates the existence of the london underground. it was first described as a distinct species from egyptian specimens by the biologist peter forsskål (1732–1763). he named this mosquito "culex molestus" due to its voracious biting, but later biologists renamed it "culex pipiens" f. "molestus" because there were no morphological differences between it and "culex pipiens". notably, this mosquito assaulted londoners sleeping in the underground during the blitz, although similar populations were long known.