Univoltine
Univoltine mosquitoes have one generation per year. Coquilletidea perturbans is the most important univoltine mosquito in Rhode Island. Univoltine mosquitoes generaly have fairly long life spans as adults and may live as long as long as a month with the right environmental conditions.
Multivoltine
Multivoltine mosquitoes have two or more generations per year. Salt marsh mosquitoes may have up to six generations per summer and floodwater Aedes may have an equally high number. The large number of generations can allow for rapid population growth during springs and summers with higher than normal rainfall.
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Aedes cantator
Aedes cantator breeds in the upland portion of salt marshes. It is a multivoltine species (i.e. it has more than one generation each season) whose larvae are tolerent of only slightly saline water. Adult females attack mainly in the evening, but will feed any time during the day, if their resting places in vegetation are disturbed. They are persistent biters and feed readily on both mammals and birds.
Aedes sollicitans
Aedes sollicitans is a multivoltine species that is produced in the saline water of coastal salt marshes. Larvae can sometimes be collected in clogged ditches by the millions. Females normally feed at night and rest in vegetation during the day, but will attack in full sunlight if their resting places are disturbed. Adult sollicitans are strong fliers and can be found long distances from the salt marsh. It has been suggested that the preferred host is large mammals but they have also been known to feed on birds, reptiles and amphibians.
Aedes taeniorhynchus
Aedes taeniorhynchus larvae are also produced in coastal salt marsh pools . This species is multivoltine and can be found throughout the summer. Unlike larvae of other species that are more or less evenly distributed in a pool, taeniorhynchus larvae are often found in dense clusters. The females are fierce and persistant biters, attacking during the day in shaded areas and especially during the evening hours. Like Aedes sollicitans, taeniorhynchus usually prefers to bite the lower extremities. Females are thought to travel long distances and can be a serious nuisance far from their salt marsh breeding areas.
Aedes vexans
Aedes vexans is a temporary pool, flood water species that lays its eggs in small depressions which are subject to flooding. The females are persistent biters and most active in the early evening. The adults are known to fly great distances and are readily atracted to light.
Aedes canadensis
Aedes canadensis, overwinters in the egg stage and is one of the earliest species to hatch in the spring, as soon as there are openings in the ice-covered woodland pools. Females remain in the woods near their larval habitat and will attack during the day but especially in the evening and early morning. Females feed readily on mammals, amphibians and reptiles, with birds being somewhat less attractive.
Aedes excrucians
Aedes excrucians larvae are usually found in cool, temporary pools with scattered shade especially near coniferous forests and sometimes hardwood swamps and sphagnum bogs. The females bite any time during the day or evening in wooded or shaded areas and in open areas at night. Females feed mostly on mammals and sometimes on birds.
Aedes triseriatus
Aedes triseriatus breeds in a wide variety of natural and artificial containers and can have several generations per year. Suitable breeding sites for this species include holes in trees, rain barrels, cans, buckets and tires. Females feed in the morning and early evening. Aedes triseriatus seems to be indiscriminate in its feeding habits, feeding on mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians.
Coquillettidia perturbans
Coquillettidia perturbans lays its eggs in rafts simular to those of Culex species. The larvae and pupae attach themselves to the roots of aquatic vegetation, especially cattail, to respire and quickly burrow into the mud when disturbed. This behavior makes collecting and controlling this species very difficult. The females will readily feed on man as well as other mammals, birds, amphibians and to a small extent reptiles. They are most active at dusk and after midnight.
Culiseta melanura
Culiseta melanura larvae overwinter in various stages of development. The eggs are laid in boats or rafts on the surface of the water and there are several generations per year. The immature stages are found in tree root cavities in freshwater hardwood, and cedar swamps. The females feed primarily on birds. Culiseta melanura is considered the primary enzootic vector of Eastern equine encephalitis, maintaining the virus in wild birds.
Culex pipiens
Culex pipiens over winters as adult females and deposit their eggs in rafts on the water's surface in the late spring. Larvae are found in waters with high organic content such as roadside ditches and polluted pools in farmyards. Culex pipiens breeds throughout the summer peaking in mid summer and gradually declining until the first frost. Females feed primarily on birds.
Culex restuans
The immature stages of Culex restuans are found in a variety of habitats including roadside ditches, polluted pools, and discarded tires and buckets. Like all species of Culex, they lay their eggs in rafts on the surface of the water. In warm temperatures it takes 7-10 days for immature to develop to the adult stage. Females preferably feed on birds but also, to some extent, on mammals, including man. Adults are morphologically very similar to Culex pipiens and it can be difficult to distinguish between them.
Anopheles quadrimaculatus
Anopheles quadrimaculatus overwinters as inseminated females. In the spring, eggs are laid singly on the surface of the water. Larvae are found in small ponds, and puddles which contain considerable emergent vegetation. Large mammals are the preferred hosts, but they will occasionally feed on birds and reptiles. Anopheles quadrimaculatus was the principal vector of malaria in the eastern United States as recently as the 1930's, and it is still an impotant pest species in areas where it is localy abundant.
Anopheles punctipennis
Anopheles punctipennis overwinters as inseminated females in protected areas such as cellars and caves. Females emerge in the spring , take a blood meal and deposit their eggs singly on the waters surfrace. Larvae are found primarily in small ponds among emergent vegetation and in containers such as wooden tubs or barrels. Larvae of An. punctipennis lie, as do larvae of other anophelines, on the water surface with their bodies parallel to the surface. Adult females are considered general feeders on warm-blooded animals and will readily bite humans outdoors in the early evening. An. puntipennis has been shown to be a very good carrier of dog heartworm (Dirofilaria immitis)