Adults are about 6–7 mm long.
Fine-art photographic collection
Culiseta (Culiseta) annulata
A cold-adapted mosquito whose adult females can survive the winter and bite during mild spells.
About this species
Banded house mosquito
Culiseta (Culiseta) annulata(Schrank, 1776)
Information reviewed17 July 2026
Culiseta annulata is a large, conspicuously banded mosquito widespread in Europe and neighbouring regions. Unlike species that pass winter only as eggs or larvae, fertilised females shelter as adults and may become active whenever winter conditions are mild enough.
Taxonomy
Animalia · Arthropoda · Insecta · Diptera · Culicidae · Culiseta
Source checked · checked 2026-07-17
Europe, North Africa and western AsiaBroad documented range and representative regional anchors — not a complete occurrence map.
Europe, North Africa and western Asia
Larvae develop in a wide variety of standing waters, natural or artificial, shaded or sunlit, fresh or mildly brackish.
Adults can be found in every month; females overwinter in dark, sheltered places and may blood-feed in winter.
Both sexes use plant sugars; females also take blood meals to produce eggs.
Solitary; larvae may occur together in the same water body.
What makes this species remarkable?
The winter stage is a living adult female, not merely an egg: she can remain sheltered for months and resume biting during a warm spell.
Its larvae tolerate an unusually broad menu of nurseries, from shaded containers to sunlit pools and from fresh to mildly brackish water.
Spotted wings, pale rings on the legs and a heavy front end make this one of the most visually distinctive mosquitoes in northern Europe.