Pey4Pakistan
MPA (400+ posts)
We have all heard the stories, purple martins can consume their weight in mosquitoes every day, bats eat thousands of mosquitoes, "mosquito hawks" eat nothing but mosquitoes during their entire life cycle, is any of this true?
As you'll see below natural predators all play a part in mosquito control, but not to the extent that would be acceptable as a viable means of control. This is true especially during times of extreme mosquito numbers (after flooding or hurricanes) , and when levels of mosquitoes borne disease (such as WNV) are high.
The fact is there is usually no scientific data to back up the anecdotal claims that predators such as birds, dragonflies, bats, purple martins, and others consume "thousands of mosquitoes". Also what scientific data does exist is often produced from a study within a controlled environment where these predators are only offered mosquitoes, this does not take into account the opportunistic feeding nature of most natural predators.
There are very few instances where natural predators are quite efficient at controlling mosquito populations, although there are exceptions to the rule.
Two prime examples would be canals and ponds. The reason that you do not find mosquitoes breeding in these places as often is because they are usually a permanent source of water, and as such can support a greater and varied concentration of natural predators. All of this being said, most of these predators are extremely beneficial in many other ways and should be protected and allowed a place in our urban habitat.
The list below is by no means meant to say these are the only natural predators that will eat mosquitoes. Here we'll just concentrate on the most common natural predators we see and the ones that are most commonly surrounded by false stories concerning their ability to control mosquito populations.
http://www.wbrcouncil.org/Departments/Mosquito-Abatement/Natural-Mosquito-Killers
As you'll see below natural predators all play a part in mosquito control, but not to the extent that would be acceptable as a viable means of control. This is true especially during times of extreme mosquito numbers (after flooding or hurricanes) , and when levels of mosquitoes borne disease (such as WNV) are high.
The fact is there is usually no scientific data to back up the anecdotal claims that predators such as birds, dragonflies, bats, purple martins, and others consume "thousands of mosquitoes". Also what scientific data does exist is often produced from a study within a controlled environment where these predators are only offered mosquitoes, this does not take into account the opportunistic feeding nature of most natural predators.
There are very few instances where natural predators are quite efficient at controlling mosquito populations, although there are exceptions to the rule.
Two prime examples would be canals and ponds. The reason that you do not find mosquitoes breeding in these places as often is because they are usually a permanent source of water, and as such can support a greater and varied concentration of natural predators. All of this being said, most of these predators are extremely beneficial in many other ways and should be protected and allowed a place in our urban habitat.
The list below is by no means meant to say these are the only natural predators that will eat mosquitoes. Here we'll just concentrate on the most common natural predators we see and the ones that are most commonly surrounded by false stories concerning their ability to control mosquito populations.
http://www.wbrcouncil.org/Departments/Mosquito-Abatement/Natural-Mosquito-Killers
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