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How to identify it
- The top of the thorax has a broad reddish-brown stripe down the middle, with yellowish-white scales on either side.[2]
- The proboscis has no pale band but is a mix of dark brown and yellowish scales.[2]
- The abdomen has broad, dingy white bands at the front of each segment, and the hind feet have broad pale bands at the base of each segment, more than a third of the segment long.[2]
- The wing veins carry a mix of pale and dark scales, especially the veins toward the front of the wing.[2]
Look-alikes
| Look-alike | How to tell them apart |
|---|---|
| Aedes excrucians | Also has broad pale bands on the abdomen and hind feet, but its thorax scales are reddish to yellowish-brown in a variable pattern, and the lower tooth of its front claw is long and nearly parallel to the upper tooth.[2] |
| Woodland pool mosquito | Often shares the same breeding water. It has an all-dark proboscis, an evenly golden-brown thorax without a dark center stripe, pale bands at both ends of each hind-foot segment and all-dark wings.[1][2] |
Where it lives
Aedes fitchii ranges from Maine to New Jersey along the East Coast, west to northern Nevada and north into British Columbia. It is scattered through northern New Jersey, with surprisingly large populations in parts of the Pine Barrens, and it is rare in Connecticut, which has records from seven of its eight counties.[1][2]
Biology and life cycle
It has one generation a year. In northern New Jersey the eggs hatch in April and the larvae reach their last stage in early May, while in southern New Jersey the eggs often hatch during January thaws and small numbers of young larvae can be found through February and March.[1]
Adults are flying in May. Females take blood and lay eggs that will not hatch until the following spring, and Connecticut records adults from May to August. Females feed on mammals and birds.[1][2]
Larvae are most common in semi-permanent water in open areas with emergent plants: roadside ditches with grasses in northern New Jersey and abandoned cranberry bogs in the south. They also use bogs, cattail marshes and woodland pools, though in New Jersey they are found more often in swamps than in woodland pools.[1][2]
Damage and signs
Health risk
The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station reports no virus isolations from this species.[2]
Control
Prevention
Females bite during the day and at night, and adults are about from May through August. Near grassy ditches, bogs and marshes at that time of year, wear long sleeves, long pants, shoes and socks, and use an EPA-registered repellent as its label directs.[2][3]
Common questions
- Where does Aedes fitchii breed?
- Mostly in semi-permanent water in open, plant-filled places such as grassy roadside ditches and abandoned cranberry bogs, and also in cattail marshes, bogs and woodland pools.[1][2]
- Can mosquitoes hatch in winter?
- This one can. In southern New Jersey, Aedes fitchii eggs often hatch during January thaws, and small numbers of young larvae can be found in February and March.[1]
Sources
- Rutgers Center for Vector Biology (New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station), “Aedes fitchii (Felt and Young) (species account by W.J. Crans).” vectorbio.rutgers.edu/outreach/species/sp26.htm (accessed 2026-11-08)
- Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, “Identification Guide to the Mosquitoes of Connecticut, Bulletin No. 966 (Andreadis, Thomas and Shepard, 2005).” portal.ct.gov/-/media/caes/documents/publications/bulletins/b966b996pdf.pdf (accessed 2026-11-08)
- City of Jacksonville Mosquito Control (Florida), “Avoiding Mosquitoes.” www.jacksonville.gov/departments/neighborhoods/mosquito-control/avoiding-mosquitoes (accessed 2026-11-08)
- iNaturalist, “Aedes fitchii taxon page (order and family).” www.inaturalist.org/taxa/212525 (accessed 2026-11-08)