Not all species have been well documented, but females of some are known to feed primarily on
birds but will also bite
cattle. The females bite primarily at night, and are most active during the early part of the night. They occasionally attack humans during daylight hours in shady places when their habitat is entered. Adult females lay their eggs on the surface of water in areas of
emergent vegetation to which hatchling larvae attach themselves with a modified siphon, on the roots or submerged stems, and where they remain throughout development; pupae also attach themselves the plants by means of a modified respiratory trumpet, and remain there until the adult is ready to emerge. Species in the subgenus
Coquillettidia are primarily
Afrotropical, but some are found in the
Asian and
Australasian Regions, one occurs in
North America and two occur in the
Palearctic region.
Austromansonia occurs only in
New Zealand, while species of subgenus
Rhynchotaenia are confined to the
Neotropical Region. ==Medical importance==