Yellow Fever Mosquitoes in Collin County, TX | Identification and Control
The yellow fever mosquito (Aedes aegypti) is the small dark mosquito with white markings that follows people inside and keeps biting, by day and into the evening. It would rather bite people than animals, which is why the CDC calls it the main carrier of dengue, Zika and chikungunya. Texas A&M Mosquito Safari says it usually stays within 1 or 2 blocks of where it hatched, so it is breeding close to the house.
Getting bitten inside your own house? Our office sits where McKinney, Plano, Frisco and Allen meet, 5 to 10 minutes from most homes in those four cities. Call and we will find the water they are breeding in, outside and in.
Yellow Fever Mosquito
The yellow fever mosquito is a container-breeding mosquito that lives right alongside people, indoors as well as out, and bites by day. The University of Florida Featured Creatures account says it came from Africa, most likely on the ships of European explorers, and has been a nuisance in the United States for centuries.
Risk Assessment
Choose a row for the full detail- Color
- Dark brown to black, a white lyre shape on the back, white bands on the legs
- Diet
- Females take blood, mostly from people, and both sexes drink plant nectar
- Threat level
- Moderate
- Defining behavior
- Bites by day and into the evening, indoors as well as outdoors
- Where it hides
- Dark, humid spots such as closets, laundry rooms and under furniture
- Eggs
- 100 to 200 a batch, up to five batches in a lifetime
- Size
- Small, about a quarter inch long, females larger than males
What Does a Yellow Fever Mosquito Look Like?
A small, dark mosquito with a white lyre shape on its back and white bands on its legs
The yellow fever mosquito is small, about a quarter inch long, and dark brown to black with white markings. The University of Florida’s species account says the white scales on top of its back form the shape of a lyre, the old curved harp, and that each segment of the hind legs has a white band at its base, so the legs look striped. Females are larger than males and have short feelers tipped with silver or white scales. The tip of the body comes to a point, like every mosquito in its group.
The lyre is the mark to look for, because the yellow fever mosquito and the Asian tiger mosquito look alike at a glance. The Texas A&M Mosquito Safari page on the yellow fever mosquito describes two thin white stripes down the center of the back with Y-shaped white markings beside them, where the tiger mosquito has one. It feeds mostly on people and is active in the day and the evening.
How to identify a yellow fever mosquito by the white lyre shape on its back and its banded legs, with the small containers it breeds in
- Bites inside the house in daylight, at the desk or on the couch
- A white lyre shape on the back, not one single stripe
- Dark legs ringed with white bands
- Mosquitoes resting in closets, the laundry room or under furniture
- Wigglers in a vase, plant saucer or pet bowl, indoors or out
- Bites still coming in the late summer heat and into October
Other Names for the Yellow Fever Mosquito
The yellow fever mosquito is named for the disease it is best known for. The University of Florida account calls it the main carrier of yellow fever, a disease still common in tropical South America and Africa but rare in the United States today, thanks to a very successful vaccine. Health departments and researchers mostly call it by its scientific name, Aedes aegypti. In Spanish it is the mosquito de la fiebre amarilla.
The name that causes confusion is the Asian tiger mosquito. That is a close relative, also dark and white and also a daytime biter, but a different species with a single stripe down its back. The look-alike table below shows how to tell them apart.
| Name | What it means |
|---|---|
| Yellow fever mosquito | For yellow fever, the disease it is best known for carrying. |
| Aedes aegypti | The scientific name health departments use. |
| Mosquito de la fiebre amarilla | The Spanish name, meaning the yellow fever mosquito. |
| Asian tiger mosquito | A close relative, not the yellow fever mosquito. |
How to Tell a Yellow Fever Mosquito from Other Collin County Mosquitoes
Three mosquitoes do most of the biting around Collin County homes. The two marked with white bite by day and breed in containers, and only one of those keeps biting indoors. The plain brown one bites at night.
| Species | Size and Color | Key Feature | Where Found |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Yellow Fever Mosquito
AKA: Daytime Biter
Aedes aegypti
This species
|
Small. Brown or black with white bands on the legs. | A white lyre shape on the back, two thin center lines with curved marks beside them. Feeds mostly on people. | Indoors and outdoors, breeding in containers of standing water close to people. |
Asian Tiger Mosquito
AKA: Tiger Mosquito
Aedes albopictus
|
Small. Shiny black with white bands on the legs. | One single white stripe straight down the middle of the back. Bites by day, especially in shade. | Outdoors, resting in low shrubs and shade, breeding in containers of standing water. |
Southern House Mosquito
AKA: House Mosquito
Culex quinquefasciatus
|
Delicate and dull brown, with no bands on the legs. | Plain with no stripes. Bites in the evening, at night and in the early morning. | Breeds in dirty standing water and containers, and comes through open doors and unscreened windows. |
Yellow Fever Mosquito vs Asian Tiger Mosquito
The Yellow Fever Mosquito in Three Numbers
1 or 2 blocks
Texas A&M Mosquito Safari says the yellow fever mosquito is a weak flier that usually stays within 1 or 2 blocks of the water where it hatched, so the source of the bites is close to home.
Texas A&M Mosquito Safari
54 sites
The Journal of Environmental Health reported in 2009 that egg traps set at 54 sites across Dallas County in 2006 found the yellow fever mosquito, alongside the more common Asian tiger mosquito.
Journal of Environmental Health, 2009
100 to 200 eggs
The University of Florida Featured Creatures account says a female yellow fever mosquito lays 100 to 200 eggs after a full blood meal, and up to five batches in her life.
University of Florida Featured Creatures
Are Yellow Fever Mosquitoes Dangerous?
They are the mosquito health departments watch most for dengue, Zika and chikungunya. The CDC’s page on the range of Aedes mosquitoes calls the yellow fever mosquito the main type that spreads those viruses, because it lives near people and prefers to feed on them. The same page says recent outbreaks in the United States have been small and limited to a small area, with local outbreaks reported in parts of Texas. Texas A&M Mosquito Safari adds that the yellow fever mosquito is not thought to carry West Nile virus.
Do Yellow Fever Mosquitoes Bite Indoors?
Yes, and during the day. The University of Florida account says that while many mosquitoes bite at night, dawn or dusk, the yellow fever mosquito readily bites during the day and indoors as well as outdoors. Only the females bite, because they need blood to make eggs. The University of Florida describes the usual bite as minor itching and irritation, and the CDC’s page about mosquitoes lists itching and swelling as the common reaction.
Are Yellow Fever Mosquitoes Dangerous to Dogs and Cats?
Less than other mosquitoes, because Texas A&M Mosquito Safari says this one feeds mostly on people. The risk to pets from any mosquito is heartworm. The Food and Drug Administration’s page on heartworm disease says heartworm is spread only through the bite of a mosquito and can cause severe lung disease, heart failure and death, mainly in dogs, cats and ferrets. Keep dogs on the heartworm prevention your vet prescribes.
When Yellow Fever Mosquito Activity Needs Fast Action
A Fever After Mosquito Bites
Fever, aches or a rash after heavy biting, above all after travel, needs a doctor. Mention the bites and where you have been.
Mosquitoes Biting Inside the House
Bites at the kitchen table or in bed mean mosquitoes are resting indoors and may be laying eggs in a vase or saucer inside.
Bitten Every Time You Step Out
Being bitten within minutes at midday means they are breeding in or right next to your yard, often in a container nobody has checked.
Wigglers in Standing Water
Tiny wriggling specks in a pet bowl, birdbath or bucket are young mosquitoes. Dump and scrub it today, before they fly.
Why You Have Yellow Fever Mosquitoes in Your House
Because this mosquito is built to live with people. The CDC’s page on the life cycle of Aedes mosquitoes says yellow fever mosquitoes prefer to live near and bite people, and live indoors and outdoors. One that follows you through an open door or a torn screen does not leave. The CDC’s page on mosquito control at home says mosquitoes rest in dark, humid places such as under sinks, in showers, in closets, under furniture and in the laundry room, and that mosquitoes coming in from outdoors can start laying eggs indoors.
It also needs very little water. The CDC life cycle page says a small amount is enough, in bowls, cups, fountains, tires, barrels and vases, and the University of Florida account adds unused flowerpots, plant saucers, pet bowls, untreated pools and blocked gutters. A Dallas-Fort Worth study in the Journal of Medical Entomology in 2025 found the yellow fever mosquito most common in hot, dry, densely built neighborhoods.
Where Yellow Fever Mosquitoes Live Around Collin County Homes
Outside, adults rest in dark, humid spots such as under patio furniture, the carport or the garage, as the CDC’s home control page describes. Inside, they settle in closets, laundry rooms and under furniture. Their eggs sit on the damp inside walls of anything that holds water, and the University of Florida account says a female spreads one batch over two or more containers.
Yellow Fever Mosquito Pressure Across Collin County
Our mosquito service notes come most often from McKinney, Frisco and Prosper, and they climb through July, August and September with October still busy. That late run fits this species, which the Dallas-Fort Worth study found peaks later in the year than the tiger mosquito.
In Plano and Allen the sources we find are the same on a smaller lot, with planters, rain barrels and pool areas the usual culprits, often kept full by sprinklers between rains.
Yellow fever mosquitoes build slowly through spring and do their worst in the late summer heat. Around Dallas they peak from mid August through October, later than the Asian tiger mosquito, and fade as November cools.
Pattern from the 2025 Journal of Medical Entomology study of Dallas-Fort Worth trapping, which found this species peaks in weeks 33 to 44 of the year, and Pest Me Off mosquito service records, busiest July through September with October still strong.
Why Yellow Fever Mosquitoes Keep Coming Back
How Pest Me Off Gets Rid of Yellow Fever Mosquitoes
Yellow fever mosquito control is four steps. Spraying the air alone kills only the mosquitoes flying at that moment, so the work goes after the resting spots and the breeding water as well.
Inspect and Identify
A free inspection of the property. We confirm the species first, since bites that follow you indoors point to the yellow fever mosquito and bites in the shady yard to the Asian tiger mosquito, and we walk the property for every container and drain holding water.
Remove Them at the Source
A treatment across the dark, sheltered spots where adults rest, shrubs, fence lines, under decks and around tree bases, and the breeding sites drained or flagged, from the rain barrel to the forgotten dog bowl.
Install the Barrier
On the same first visit, the Scorched Earth Barrier goes on the perimeter plants, fence lines and eaves. For yards near ponds, creeks and greenbelts, In2Care stations can be added for the water we cannot reach.
Defend All Season
The Skeeter Beater seasonal program returns every 3 weeks, April through October, to renew the barrier and walk the property again for new standing water.
& Other Companies
How to Get Rid of Yellow Fever Mosquitoes Yourself
Most of the work is taking away the water they breed in, indoors and out. The CDC’s page on preventing mosquito bites pairs that with keeping them out of the house.
Why Some DIY Responses Fail for Yellow Fever Mosquitoes
Most DIY trouble with this mosquito comes from treating the air instead of the water, leaving the eggs behind, or trusting a product nobody has tested.
An Indoor Fogger on Its Own
The CDC says indoor sprays and foggers work quickly but may need to be reapplied, and that using only an indoor insecticide will not keep a home free of mosquitoes. The water outside keeps sending more.
Dumping Water Without Scrubbing
Pouring out a saucer or birdbath leaves the eggs glued to its sides, dry and waiting. The next rain or sprinkler hatches them. Scrub the container, then refill it.
Repellents With No EPA Number
The CDC says it does not know how well repellents work that are not registered with the EPA, including some natural ones. Look for the EPA registration number on the label.
Common Yellow Fever Mosquito Questions
What is a yellow fever mosquito, and what does it look like?
Are there yellow fever mosquitoes in Texas?
Why do yellow fever mosquitoes bite indoors?
Do yellow fever mosquitoes carry yellow fever?
Are yellow fever mosquitoes dangerous?
Do yellow fever mosquitoes carry West Nile virus?
How do I tell a yellow fever mosquito from an Asian tiger mosquito?
Where do yellow fever mosquitoes breed?
When are yellow fever mosquitoes worst?
How do I get rid of yellow fever mosquitoes?
Bitten Inside Your Own House? We Find Where They Breed.
We find the water they hatch in and the spots they rest in, treat both, and come back through the season before the next wave hatches. Mosquito control across McKinney, Allen, Frisco, Plano, and all of Collin County.