Pistia stratiotes (water lettuce) forms dense floating mats that facilitate Mansonia mosquito breeding. Eggs are laid beneath leaves, and larvae attach to submerged roots for development.

Pistia stratiotes

Eggs of Anopheles stephensi mosquito 

Eggs of Culex quinquefasciatus mosquito

Eggs of Aedes aegypti mosquito

Photomicrograph of a Mansonia uniformis mosquito egg mass, consisting of a large number of eggs attached together in a rosette-like shape.

Eggs of Mansonia uniformis mosquito

A female Anopheles mosquito (Anopheles gambiae) sucking blood from the photographer's hand using its proboscis. The mosquito's abdomen is already filled and expanded to the extent that one drop of blood is directly excreted. At the start of the blood meal, the mosquito injects saliva that contains anticoagulation agents and, in some cases, sporozoites (infectious form of the malaria parasite).

Anopheles mosquito sucking blood

Culex quinquefasciatus mosquito

Mosquitoes of the Aedes aegypti species are a transmission vector for several viruses, including yellow fever virus, dengue virus, chikungunya virus, and Zika virus. A mosquito is seen sucking blood from a human host; its abdomen has expanded from the blood meal.

Overview of mosquito and sandfly vectors
		Anopheles	Culex	Aedes	Mansonia	Sandyfly (Phlebotomus argentipes)
Associated diseases		Malaria	Japanese encephalitis Lymphatic filariasis West Nile virus St. Louis encephalitis Eastern equine encephalitis	Dengue Yellow fever Chikungunya Zika West Nile virus	Lymphatic filariasis	Visceral leishmaniasis
Geographical distribution		Tropical and subtropical regions	Urban/peri-urban regions	Tropical and subtropical urban regions	Tropical wetlands/swampy regions	Indian subcontinent
Host preference		Predominantly humans	Cattle, birds, humans	Predominantly humans	Cattle	Predominantly humans
Breeding site		Clear, stagnant water in ponds, rice fields	Polluted water, drains, sewage	Artificial, small-volume water containers	Large bodies of water with aquatic vegetation	Mud flats, moist soil, floor/ground of cattle huts
Egg characteristics		Boat-shaped Lateral air floats Singular	Cylindrical Form floating rafts	Cigar-shaped No floats Singular	Star-shaped clusters	Small, oval eggs
Larval characteristics		No respiratory siphon Lies parallel to the water surface	Long respiratory siphon Hangs from the water surface	Short respiratory siphon Hangs from the water surface	Respiratory siphon adapted to pierce aquatic plant root/stems for oxygen	Caterpillar-like larva Housed in organic matter and moist soil
Adult characteristics	Peak biting time	Dusk until dawn	Dusk until early dawn	Daytime	Twilight and night	Dusk until dawn
	Flight range	1–3 km	1–3 km	200 m	1–5 km	100–200 m
	Resting position	Body angled up Head, thorax, and abdomen form a straight line; abdomen points away from surface	Hunchback	Parallel to the surface	Squatting	Body inclined, wings erect in V-shape
	Resting place	Exophilic	Exophilic and endophilic	Endophilic	Exophilic	Endophilic
	Appearance	Brownish-gray color Slim, delicate with long legs and narrow body Spotted/scaled wings: dark and pale scale patches on the wings (mottled/spotted look) Long palps adjacent to the proboscis	Plain brown, gray, or tan body Short palps that are shorter than the proboscis	Dark brown color Bright white or silvery markings on legs and body (e.g., Aedes aegypti has lyre-shaped white markings on the thorax ) Females have palps that are much shorter than the proboscis	Brown to black color Medium to large size with long legs and short palps Broad and bicolored wing scales	Yellow/light brown color Hairy body, legs, and wings Very small size (2–3 mm) Short piercing mouthpart Prominent black eyes

Disease vector identification

Overview of mosquito vectors and their characteristics