Types of mosquitoes in the Philippines: which one is biting you

Three kinds matter around a house. Aedes is black and white, bites in daylight and carries dengue. Culex is plain brown and bites at night. Anopheles, the malaria mosquito, breeds in streams.

How to tell them apart

Look at the back, just behind the head. A squashed mosquito on a white wall is often enough.

The back of the mosquito, seen from above

Drawn to explain, and not to scale: the real mosquito is a few millimetres long. Both Aedes also have white bands on the legs; Culex has none. From the ECDC fact sheets and Texas A&M, in the sources below.

The five, side by side

MosquitoLooks likeBitesBreeds inKnown for

Aedes aegypti Small, black with white or silver patches on the legs and body, and a silver lyre shape on the back. In the day and at dusk. Containers: vases, water tanks, tyres, even septic tanks. Dengue

Aedes albopictus Black and white like aegypti, with one silver line down the middle of the back. Mostly in the day, mostly outdoors. Tyres, drums, drains, tree holes and rock pools. Dengue

Culex quinquefasciatus Dull brown, with no bands on the legs. Evening, night and early morning, often indoors. Dirty standing water: drains, septic tanks, clogged gutters, containers. Biting indoors at night

Culex tritaeniorhynchus A brown Culex, hard to tell apart without a lens. Dusk to dawn. Mostly rural, near farms with pigs. Japanese encephalitis

Anopheles flavirostris Needs an expert and a lens to identify. Late evening and at night. Along streams. Malaria

Aedes: the dengue mosquitoes

Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus spread dengue. They live indoors and outdoors close to people, and they bite in daylight, which is why a mosquito net at night does not protect a child napping in the afternoon.

The female lays her eggs on the inside wall of a container, just above the water. The eggs can survive drying out for up to eight months, so scrubbing the inside of a drum or a plant saucer matters as much as emptying it. What to look for in the water is on mosquito larvae, and the warning signs of dengue after a bite are on mosquito bite.

Culex: the one in the bedroom at night

Culex quinquefasciatus is the plain brown mosquito that comes in through unscreened windows and bites from evening to early morning. It breeds in dirty standing water: drains, septic tanks, clogged gutters and neglected containers. Its eggs float in rafts of 100 to 300, and one raft can become adult mosquitoes in 7 to 10 days.

A close relative, Culex tritaeniorhynchus, is the main carrier of Japanese encephalitis. It is mostly a rural mosquito near farms that keep pigs, and a vaccine exists; ask a doctor if your family lives near one.

Anopheles: the malaria mosquito

The main malaria mosquito in the Philippines is Anopheles flavirostris. It bites in the late evening and at night, and its larvae live along streams, so it belongs to hill and forest-edge barangays; household water containers do not breed it.

What to do about the ones at home

For Aedes, empty, scrub and cover every container once a week. For Culex, clear the drains and gutters and screen the windows. A Tagalog checklist for the house is on paano mawala ang lamok sa bahay.

If they keep coming, we treat breeding sites and resting places through mosquito and fly treatment in Pampanga, Bulacan, Bataan, Tarlac and Olongapo. The inspection is free.

Sources

European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, Aedes aegypti fact sheet, read 30 September 2026
European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, Aedes albopictus fact sheet, read 30 September 2026
US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, How dengue spreads, read 30 September 2026
US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Aedes life cycle, read 30 September 2026
US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Culex life cycle, read 30 September 2026
Texas A&M AgriLife, Mosquito Safari: Culex quinquefasciatus, read 30 September 2026
US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, About malaria, read 30 September 2026
World Health Organization, Japanese encephalitis fact sheet, read 30 September 2026
Medical and Veterinary Entomology (2002), Stream-bank shade and larval distribution of the Philippine malaria vector Anopheles flavirostris, read 30 September 2026

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