by Mary Reid Barrow

When is standing water not standing water?

That’s one of the questions when it comes to controlling mosquitoes.

All a mosquito needs to lay her eggs is a bottle cap of water. The only good thing about a little bit of standing water is that it may dry up in a few days. Water has to remain available for eggs to hatch and mosquito larvae to grow up, which can take up to two weeks.

For example, the folds of fallen leaves hold water after a rain, and they attract female mosquitoes to lay their eggs. Leaves are rarely the culprit, however, because they dry out before baby mosquitoes have a chance to grow up.

Where to look for standing water?

Drop pieces of mosquito dunks in spots you never dreamed of–not just your pond or bird bath—but in a tree cavity puddle, the rim of an overturned wheelbarrow, the seat of a lawn chair, edge of a clogged gutter.

You don’t think you have standing water, yet you have too many mosquitoes?

Grab some mosquito dunks and ask your neighbors if they have tried mosquito dunks. If not, offer them one and give them suggestions on how to use them. And ask them please not to spray for mosquitoes.

Spraying for mosquitoes not only kills both males that don’t sting and females that do but all the other insects around, including those that pollinate gardens, feed birds and eat other insects. Leave the flying insect control to the dragonflies! See “In Praise of the Dragonfly” below.

Tell your neighbors that one female mosquito can lay hundreds of eggs in her lifetime and that’s when mosquito dunks work their magic!

In Praise of the Dragonfly.

Last week’s Nature Notes featured a beautiful dragonfly that was killed by mosquito spray. It prompted Mike Coughlin to sing the praises of the dragonfly.

“Fun fact,” he wrote. “Dragonflies are the world’s most effective hunter. No other animal comes close to its likelihood of a kill, which is over 90%. Pound for pound, dragonflies are considered the most efficient hunters in the animal kingdom, not just among insects.”

With those big bulging eyes for seeing and two sets of wings for maneuvering, dragonflies are well equipped for hunting down other flying insects. And though they are water breeders, like mosquitoes, mosquito dunks have no effect on dragonfly larvae.

Who needs bug spray when you’ve got dragonflies?