BackgroundMosquitoes in the genusCulexare primary vectors in the US for West Nile virus (WNV) and other arboviruses. Climatic drivers such as temperature have differential effects on species-specific changes in mosquito range, distribution, and abundance, posing challenges for population modeling, disease forecasting, and subsequent public health decisions. Understanding these differences in underlying biological dynamics is crucial in the face of climate change.MethodsWe collected empirical data on thermal response for immature development rate, egg viability, oviposition, survival to adulthood, and adult lifespan forCulex pipiens, Cx. quinquefasciatus, Cx. tarsalis, andCx. restuansfrom existing literature according to the PRISMA scoping review guidelines.ResultsWe observed linear relationships with temperature for development rate and lifespan, and nonlinear relationships for survival and egg viability, with underlying variation between species. Optimal ranges and critical minima and maxima also appeared varied. To illustrate how model output can change with experimental input data from individualCulexspecies, we applied a modified equation for temperature-dependent mosquito type reproduction number for endemic spread of WNV among mosquitoes and observed different effects.ConclusionsCurrent models often input theoretical parameters estimated from a single vector species; we show the need to implement the real-world heterogeneity in thermal response between species and present a useful data resource for researchers working toward that goal.Graphical AbstractSupplementary InformationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13071-023-05792-3.