Eggs: After drinking blood, adult females lay a raft of 40 to 400 tiny white eggs in standing water or very slow-moving water.

Larvae: Within a week, the eggs hatch into larvae (sometimes called wrigglers) that breathe air through tubes which they poke above the surface of the water. Larvae eat bits of floating organic matter and each other. Larvae molt four times as they grow; after the fourth molt, they are called pupae.

Pupae: Pupae (also called tumblers) also live near the surface of the water, breathing through two horn-like tubes (called siphons) on their back. Pupae do not eat.