Tule Mosquito

Culex erythrothorax · Order: Diptera · Family: Culicidae

Can spread germs or disease. It can spread West Nile virus to people.

Source: Wikipedia

Tule Mosquito
Photo: Casey H. Richart, CC BY

The tule mosquito is brownish-orange in color. It breeds in tule plants and is found in Southern California.

Source: Wikipedia

How to recognize it

It has a brownish-orange coloration.

Source: Wikipedia

Does it bite or sting?

It can transmit West Nile virus to humans.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it lives

It prefers to breed in tule plants.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it comes from

It appears in Southern California.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it is found in the US

Recorded in 5 of 51 states and DC. Most records: California, Nevada, Utah, Idaho, Arizona.

Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.

Source: GBIF

Status: native in North America; native in United States. Source: iNaturalist

Months it is reported in the US

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Source: GBIF

Questions people ask

Can tule mosquitoes spread disease?

Yes, they are known to carry West Nile virus.

Source: Wikipedia

Where are tule mosquitoes found?

They are found in Southern California.

Source: Wikipedia

What do tule mosquitoes look like?

They are brownish-orange in color.

Source: Wikipedia

What habitat do tule mosquitoes prefer?

They breed in tule plants.

Source: Wikipedia

Same family (Culicidae)

Asian Tiger MosquitoAsian Tiger MosquitoAedes albopictusCan spread germs or diseaseHouse Mosquito ComplexHouse Mosquito ComplexCulex pipiensCan spread germs or diseaseYellow Fever MosquitoYellow Fever MosquitoAedes aegyptiCan spread germs or diseaseInland Floodwater MosquitoInland Floodwater MosquitoAedes vexansCan spread germs or diseaseAsian Bush MosquitoAsian Bush MosquitoAedes japonicusCan biteSouthern House MosquitoSouthern House MosquitoCulex quinquefasciatusCan spread germs or disease

Sources

  • Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culex_erythrothorax

Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · ITIS · Wikipedia

Text written 2026-10-23 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-23.

How this page works

This is one bug's fact sheet. The colored box at the top says whether it is dangerous. Sections below cover how to recognize it, whether it is a pest, and how to deal with it. The US map shows which states have records; tap a state to see other bugs there.

Every fact on Bug FAQ comes from a named source (university extension sites, government agencies, GBIF, iNaturalist, Wikipedia). The source is linked next to each section. If we have no source for something, we leave it out.