Discover

Today
Animals
Explore
Archive
Search

Use it

Classroom
Resources
Field lab
Quiz
Saved

Trust

Methodology
Sources
Corrections
Accessibility
Contributors

Details

About
Contact
Privacy
Terms
Newsletter

Animal profile

Common house mosquito

Culex pipiens

InsectaStanding water in gutters, drains, containers, ditches and flooded basements

Field profile

Culex pipiens is a small brown mosquito that breeds in still, often organically enriched water. Females of the typical form feed largely on birds and overwinter as adults; males feed only on plant sugars. It is a vector of West Nile virus in several parts of its range.

Scope note

This is an editorial profile, not a diagnostic field-identification guide or a substitute for current conservation assessments. Follow the cited sources on each fact for the evidence trail.

Published field notes

2025-11-11

Common house mosquito

A mosquito form thrives in the London Underground

Mosquitoes collected in the tunnels of the London Underground during the Second World War belong to a form of Culex pipiens that breeds without a blood meal, does not hibernate, mates in confined spaces and bites mammals. Whether the tube created it is another matter.

Read with evidence →

Common house mosquito | Daily Animal Facts