Mosquito Information

There are currently 50 species of mosquito found in Massachusetts. However, not all of the mosquitoes found in Massachusetts feed on or are a nuisance to humans.

Mosquito species found in Massachusetts:

Aedes albopictus

Aedes cinereus

Anopheles punctipennis

Anopheles quadrimaculatus

Anopheles walkeri

Coquillettidia perturbans

Culiseta impatiens

Culiseta inornata

Culiseta melanura

Culiseta minnesotae

Aedes decticus

Aedes diantaeus

Aedes hendersoni

Aedes implicatus

Aedes intrudens

Aedes japonicus

Aedes provocans

Aedes punctor

Aedes sollicitans

Aedes sticticus

Aedes stimulans

Aedes teaniorhynchus

Aedes triseriatus

Aedes trivittatus

Ortho

Nationally, there is confusion in both mosquito control and scientific biological research as to the system of scientific names of mosquitoes. The Northeast Massachusetts Mosquito Control and Wetlands Management District had decided to revert to calling all mosquito species by the names as they were known prior to the year 2000. This is in accordance with the system of naming (nomenclature) that is used at the Walter Reed Biosystematic Unit, whose mission is to conduct systematics research on medically important arthropods and to maintain the U.S. mosquito collection (http://wrbu.si.edu). Therefore, mosquitoes recently identified with the genus Ochlerotatus will again be called Aedes.

podomyia signifera

Psorophora ciliata

Psorophora columbiae

Psorophora ferox

Toxorhynchites rutilus septentrionalis

Uranotaenia sapphirina

Wyeomyia smithii

Credit for the information contained in the linked pages must be given to the following individuals and references: Dave Henley at the East Middlesex Mosquito Control Project, Dr. Wayne Crans at Rutgers University, Tim Deschamps and Curtis Best at the Central Massachusetts Mosquito Control Project, the Massachusetts Entomologist Group, and Mosquitoes of North America by S.J. Carpenter and W.J. LaCasse.