# What Do Mosquitos Eat?

> What mosquitos eat: Nectar; females also drink blood, foraging style, and seasonal shifts in Worldwide near standing water.

- **Species:** Mosquito (*Culicidae*)
- **Conservation status:** Least Concern
- **Diet:** Nectar; females also drink blood
- **Habitat:** Worldwide near standing water
- **Lifespan:** Adults a few weeks
- **Top speed:** ~2.5 km/h (1.5 mph)
- **Canonical HTML:** https://globalanimalguide.org/animals/mosquito/what-do-mosquito-eat/
- **Parent profile:** https://globalanimalguide.org/animals/mosquito/
- **Last reviewed:** 2026-07-16

## Quick answer

Mosquitoes are small biting flies of the family Culicidae, only about 3 to 6 mm long, found worldwide wherever there is standing water. Both sexes feed on nectar, but females also drink blood to develop their eggs, and in doing so they spread diseases such as malaria that make the mosquito the deadliest animal to humans. Adults fly slowly, at around 2.5 km/h (1.5 mph), and live only a few weeks. The IUCN lists them as Least Concern.

## Who should skip this page

Skip this if you need a captive feeding plan from a veterinarian. This page is wild diet, not a pet-care sheet.

## Size and appearance

Mosquitoes are tiny, delicate flies, typically just 3 to 6 mm long and weighing only a few millionths of a kilogram. They have a slender body, long thread-like legs, a single pair of narrow wings, and a prominent tube-shaped mouthpart called a proboscis. Females use the proboscis to pierce skin and draw blood, while males lack the equipment to bite. Their fragile build and light weight let them fly and settle almost unnoticed.

## Help protect the Mosquito

Even familiar animals lose ground as wild habitat keeps shrinking worldwide.

[Donate to wildlife protection](https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/donate/)

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Source: Global Animal Guide (https://globalanimalguide.org/animals/mosquito/what-do-mosquito-eat/). Licensed CC BY-NC 4.0 — free for non-commercial reuse with attribution.