A Culex mosquito, known as the house mosquito, is distributed across urban and semi-urban areas in India and serves as the principal vector for lymphatic filariasis (bancroftian filariasis). Active during the evening, nighttime, and early morning hours, it is the vector of Wuchereria bancrofti, avian malaria, and arboviruses including St. Louis encephalitis virus, Western equine encephalitis virus, Zika virus, and West Nile virus. Adult Culex mosquitoes can and do feed on bananas. Mosquitoes associate with blood, but plant sugars and nectar are actually the primary daily food source for both male and female adult mosquitoes. They require carbohydrates for flight energy, mating, and survival. In urban and semi-urban settings across India, mosquitoes will readily feed on the juices of exposed, overripe, or rotting fruits—including bananas—to extract fructose and other natural sugars. Only female mosquitoes bite humans and animals for blood. They do not use blood for daily energy, but rather for the protein and iron necessary to develop their eggs. Males never bite and survive entirely on plant juices and nectar. A Culex mosquito feeds on juice from an overripe, peeled banana on a serving plate at night in Tehatta, West Bengal, India, on September 8, 2026.
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