Mosquito prevention
By: Michael Picagli
Natural Angle
pond & garden design		 April 2001


 
Late in the summer of 1999 was a time of major concerns.
Mosquitos were reported to have been carriers of a West Nile like virus here in New York State. A potentially deadly virus, especially to the young and elderly. Mosquitos have been responsible for the spread of diseases for years, especially in countries such as Africa.
While this is rare here in New York. It's still a good thing to practice mosquito control methods. Besides the potential spread of disease mosquitos may cause, they are a nuisance. No one likes to scratch their mosquito bites. Especially while relaxing in your own yard! In this text I will give you tips on how to safely control mosquito populations without the use of harmful pesticides and sprays.

Before I begin, let me start by telling you why pesticides and other bug sprays are dangerous to you and the environment.
Last summer the government issued trucks and planes carrying dangerous pesticides to spray in residential and nonresidential areas to quickly kill mosquitos carrying the West Nile virus. They said it wasn't harmful to us, but yet they urged everyone to stay indoors, bring their pets inside, and close up all windows during spraying! So, if the spraying is not harmful to us, why then tell us to stay away from it? The big question has become, what's more dangerous? The pesticides or the virus?
To tell the truth, both. The virus is an immediate danger. The pesticides are a long term threat to humans and other animals.
While the dosage sprayed to kill mosquitos is not enough to kill us or effect your dog. It may be one of the contributors to diseases such as Cancer. It is however immediately harmful to other creatures. Dragonflies, butterflies, bees, and other insects are likely killed along side mosquitos. Frogs for instance are very sensitive to pesticides, since they breathe though their skin. In fact, frogs are already in massive decline all around the world. Why? Because of the use of harmful materials and chemicals to our environment.
Aerosol sprays and burning plastic put two huge holes in our Ozone layer. Allowing the suns harmful UV rays to shine down on us. Most retail bug sprays are harmful to humans and pets. Think of all the chemicals used to treat your lawn, those that are dumped down your sink drain, or flushed down your toilet. Where do you think these wastes go? Straight into the ground potentially contaminating groundwater.
All these things contribute to the destruction of our environment.
Spraying pesticides to control mosquito populations is not only harmful, it wont work.
There are so many, already proven, safe ways to kill mosquitos and reduce their populations. In this text I will explain what you can do and why the spraying of pesticides is not a solution.

First, it's important to know about mosquitos. Then I can further explain how to control them.

Mosquitos lay a mass of 100-400 eggs in stagnant water, which floats on the waters surface. The eggs hatch in a day or two and then form into larvae. The larva come to the surface to breathe through a tube called a siphon. Within a few days, It sheds it's skin (molts) four times. On the fourth molt it changes into a pupa. The mosquito grows inside the pupa and in two days, when it is fully developed, the pupae skin splits and an adult mosquito comes out.
It is also important to know that the female is the only one that bites. She needs the blood to produce her eggs. The male feeds on plant liquids.

With this basic understanding, we can now talk about what methods can be used to reduce their populations.
The first thing to do is attack their breeding spots, Stagnant water.
If the larvae are killed, then there is no flying mosquito.
By spraying pesticide, it will only kill flying mosquitos, as well as other insects. But the larvae still grow into new mosquito. Which is greater in number to the amount killed by spraying.
In your own yard, check places where water will collect. Clogged gutters, unused tires, buckets or beverage bottles left outside. These types of places all collect rain water and are perfect spots for mosquitos to breed. Turn buckets over and empty the bottles. Get rid of anything that may be a spot they can breed.
On a larger scale; bogs, marsh, and stagnant ponds are also major breeding spots for them. To handle this type of stagnant water, you will need to use nature to fight nature. This is the most effective way to and it's 100% environmentally safe! No sprays to hurt you, your kids, pets, and of course, mother nature.
You need to use living creatures that feed on adult mosquito and larvae. Mammals, Fish, Insects, amphibians, and Bacteria can be used.
In the Mammal category there is one major mosquito eater, bats.
Bats eat the adult mosquito. They fly around at night and eat hundreds of them in one night!
You can attract bats to your yard by buying a bat house and by planting certain night blooming flowers they are attracted to, such as Jasmine and Candlestick nicotiana.
In the fish category there are a few species that will eat mosquito larvae. The most effective is the Mosquito fish (Gambusia affinis), And the common Sun fish. Mosquito fish are a better option for those with ornamental ponds. Sun fish are aggressive and will eat smaller fish.
Mosquito fish are amazing, they are as small as guppies and one fish can eat several hundred mosquito larvae in one day! These fish also breed rapidly and bear live young, not eggs. So they start eating the larvae at a very young age. They can be acquired by contacting the DEC (Department of Environmental Control) or a fish breeder.
In the insect world, Dragonflies are very effective against mosquitos. Dragonflies are born in water as nymphs. These Nymphs eat various creatures that also live in the water with them. One of those is the mosquito larvae. When the Nymph grows to an adult and forms into the flying Dragonfly, they continue their assault on mosquitos by eating the adult flying mosquito. In fact, the Dragonfly's main prey is the mosquito. Spiders and Praying mantis are also effective.
As for amphibians, frogs are the only choice. However, they feed on a large variety of insects, so you should not use them as your main source of control. If your area is severely mosquito infested, then frogs will make a huge impact in combination with mosquito eating insects.
If frogs are in your area they will usually find water. So if you have a pond its very likely they will show up there. If frogs are not attracted to your area, you can purchase tadpoles and frogs from most pet suppliers.
Now, Bacteria is a bit of a different method. And it may seem similar to using a commercial product like bug sprays. But they are totally different. There are only two Bacteria treatments geared towards the destruction of mosquitos. Mosquito dunks, and Mosquito granules. These products, usually available at your local nursery. Are made of of Dried bacteria. One placed into water, the bacteria spring to life and attack the mosquito larvae! This method is very effective, easy, And it's completely safe to fish, plants and Us. In fact, I think it's an ingenious product developed with the Pond owner in mind. A totally natural solution using a strain of bacteria to kill off those pesky blood suckers.

Well, there you have it. I hope you have found his brief text helpful.