Culex Pipiens, a common urban mosquito and Aedes Vexans, a flood-water mosquito. Culex Pipiens are most often implicated as the vector of West Nile Virus. It usually feeds on birds and occasionally on mammals such as humans. This mosquito breeds in stagnant standing water such as that found in old tires, rain gutters, swamps, detention basins, and bird baths, from mid May, early June, and until the first hard frost of the year. Since all mosquitoes spend their larval and pupae stages in water, this is where they are found.
Mosquitoes are members of the food chain and are eaten by fish, birds and bats.
It is spread to humans by the bite of an infected mosquito. A mosquito is infected by biting a bird that carries the virus. Most people who are infected have no symptoms or may experience mild illness such as fever and headache before fully recovering. In some individuals, particularly the elderly, West Nile virus can cause serious disease that affects the central nervous system. At its most serious, it can cause permanent neurological damage and can be fatal.