Banded mosquito

Culiseta annulata

Eats: Blood Flies and mosquitoesPonds, rivers and shores6 legs

The banded mosquito is a mosquito from Europe and Asia. It is tough enough to stay awake as a grown-up all winter. In autumn the females often hide in caves to wait for spring.

Lives in

Europe and Asia, from Iceland and Northern Europe to the Czech Republic and beyond

Top speed

about 2 km/h (1.2 mph)

Flying, estimate

Can it hurt you?

Can bite or sting

The female can bite you and leave an itchy bump. Scientists have found some viruses in its spit, but it is not good at spreading them.

What does it eat?

The females drink blood, most often from deer, but also from people, sheep and pigs. The males drink sweet plant juices.

Photo of Banded mosquito — Picture by Janet Graham. CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

How fast is it?

A tortoise about 0.3 km/h (0.19 mph)

Banded mosquito about 2 km/h (1.2 mph)

A person walking about 5 km/h (3.1 mph)

A kid running fast about 13 km/h (8.1 mph)

cool stuff

Fun facts

Grown-up females spend the winter hiding, for example in caves, together with other kinds of mosquitoes.

In autumn 2025 it became the first mosquito ever found in Iceland, both males and females.

In the Czech Republic it bites deer more than any other animal.

you asked

Most asked questions about Banded mosquito

?Does the banded mosquito bite people?

Yes, the females sometimes bite people, but they like deer even more.

?Where does the banded mosquito spend the winter?

The grown-up females hide in sheltered places like caves until spring.

For bug experts

Scientific name: Culiseta annulata
Group: Flies and mosquitoes
Family: Culicidae
Classification: Insecta > Diptera > Culicidae
Lives on: Europe, Asia

Where the facts come from

Culiseta annulata (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
Picture by Janet Graham. CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons. The round sticker of this bug is cut from the same picture.

If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.