A gnat (/ˈnæt/) is any of many species of tiny flying insects in the dipterid suborder Nematocera, especially those in the families Mycetophilidae, Anisopodidae and Sciaridae. They can be both biting and non-biting. 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".
Male gnats often assemble in large mating swarms, or ghosts, particularly at dusk.
Gnat larvae are mostly free-living, and some are aquatic. Many feed on plants, though some are carnivorous. Larval plant feeders (such as 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 pests of mushrooms and roots of potted plants in homes and greenhouses.
Black fly and biting midges, also belonging to the gnat category, are small, sometimes barely visible, blood-sucking flies commonly known in many areas as biting gnats, sand flies, punkies or "no-see-ums".
Some South American pleurothallid orchids are pollinated by tiny gnats and have correspondingly small flowers.
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