Dragonflies may be your answer to natural mosquito control

You whitethorn not beryllium aware, but Aug. 20 is World Mosquito Day. It isn’t a time to observe mosquitoes. Instead, it marks the discovery, made successful 1897 by the British doc Sir Ronald Ross, that pistillate Anopheles mosquitoes transmit malaria to humans. Mosquitoes are the deadliest of each the insects, ticks, and tiny animals that tin dispersed disease. 

So however tin you champion support yourself and your family, with a small assistance from the winged world?

First, a small background.

The mosquitoes that dispersed the Zika microorganism besides vector Dengue, chikungunya, and yellowish fever. The superior mosquito that spreads these diseases is Aedes aegypti, and to a lesser degree, A. albopictus.

The beingness rhythm of mosquitoes tin spell afloat cycle, from an ovum to an adult, successful arsenic small arsenic 10 days during the lukewarm months.  These mosquitoes are daytime flyers and breed successful tiny collections of caller water. Possible breeding sites see birdbaths, carnal h2o dishes, tires, overgarment buckets, works trays, bare garbage cans, lids, wheelbarrows, non-native bromeliads, vases, etc.

If you person bromeliads successful your landscape, some Aedes taxon of mosquitoes volition breed successful non-native bromeliads, particularly the Neoregelia. If you are getting bitten by mosquitoes during the day, you tin either trim the fig of bromeliads successful your scenery oregon usage Mosquito Bits, which are effectual successful sidesplitting mosquito larvae. The statement states that the bits tin beryllium applied each 7 – 14 days, but it recommends reapplying each 7 days during the hotter months.

Simple steps to support yourself from mosquitoes

To support yourself and your family, the archetypal happening to bash is to survey your gait for lasting water. The much thoroughly you cheque each country of your yard, the better. If immoderate containers person collected water, bare them, and either region them from the landscape, crook them upside down, oregon thin them against thing truthful they can’t cod water.

Wearing insect repellent tin besides service arsenic a superior prevention method.  The CDC provides a database of mosquito repellents specified arsenic lipid of citrus eucalyptus, picaridin, etc. The full database tin beryllium recovered astatine this website: https://www.cdc.gov/mosquitoes/prevention/index.html.

Research has besides been done connected the efficacy of works indispensable oils successful repelling insects.

Many probe studies person been published successful the Asian Pacific Journal of Tropical Diseases showing that works indispensable lipid efficaciously repels Aedes aegypti. One specified survey looked astatine Peppermint lipid and recovered it provides singular repellent properties against big A. aegypti. Peppermint lipid provides 100% extortion for 2.5 hours, and from 2.5 to 3 hours, lone 1 to 2 bites were recorded. Another survey examined clove indispensable lipid mixed with coconut oil, which repelled Aedes aegypti for 96 minutes.

Enter dragonflies, exit mosquitoes

Dragonflies are besides called pond oregon mosquito hawks, truthful wherefore not invitation them to your yard?

They are unmatched arsenic fliers and person an agile formation pattern. The fare of dragonflies chiefly consists of insects specified arsenic mosquitoes, achromatic flies, equine flies, cervid flies, and tiny gnats. Most dragonfly taxon hunt during the day, erstwhile the Aedes mosquitoes are active.

Dragonflies are commonly recovered astir freshwater due to the fact that they provender connected mosquitoes and their larvae. Hopefully, you already spot dragonflies successful your yard, and if you do, you tin assistance them by simply placing gangly sticks (i.e., bamboo, metal, etc.) passim your scenery beds to springiness them a resting perch.

If you privation to support dragonflies successful your yard, see gathering a pond filled with plants. This volition supply the dragonflies with a spot to laic their eggs and a situation for their aquatic larvae, called naiads, to find food. To assistance support the naiads, don’t support your pond excessively clean. Some leaves astatine the bottommost of the pond volition supply them with places to fell from predators. The plants successful the pond volition beryllium utilized by the dragonfly, which lays her eggs connected the leaves, and the naiads during their incomplete metamorphosis.

When the clip comes, the naiads volition ascent retired of the pond, either onto the slope oregon a adjacent plant, wherever they molt into an adult. Just arsenic butterflies do, erstwhile they look from their chrysalis, the dragonfly needs to pump up their wings and let their assemblage to harden earlier they tin fly. It tin instrumentality a dragonfly respective days to harden wholly earlier taking flight.

How to make a dragonfly pond

Those looking for a worthy task should see creating a dragonfly pond! Important characteristics of a pond to enactment dragonflies see h2o persistence, positive the magnitude and operation of the aquatic vegetation present. A ample diverseness of aquatic vegetation is captious for a bully dragonfly pond.

Less important are the aboveground country and property of the pond. In addition, vegetation planted astir the pond is important for providing nighttime roosting, hunting, and different benefits for the big dragonflies. If you are funny successful learning more, cheque retired this manual, titled Backyard Ponds: Guidelines for Creating & Managing Habitat for Dragonflies & Damselflies.

Though mosquitoes tin fuss america passim the day, determination is nary request to springiness up gardening. Adopting galore of the recommendations listed supra volition let you to proceed to bask the outdoors portion minimizing imaginable mosquito bites. If you privation a caller project, see creating a dragonfly pond and commencement readying today!

Sally Scalera is an municipality horticulture cause and maestro gardener coordinator for the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agriculture Science.

This nonfiction primitively appeared connected Florida Today: How to repel mosquitoes successful your gait utilizing dragonflies arsenic an ally