Although some studies have shown that dryer sheets can help drive away other bugs like gnats, this method has not been scientifically proven to repel mosquitoes. Another common DIY method is to use an oscillating fan or place citronella candles, coffee grounds or plants like lavender or basil near you while you and your family are outside.
If you are in a small space, these methods might help repel some mosquitoes, but they are not effective in open areas and they do not work for longer-term mosquito control.
Once you walk to a different area of your yard or blow out the candles, the mosquitoes will most likely come back. A much more effective method of mosquito control is to get rid of or clean up areas in your yard or home where mosquitoes might eat, breed and live. For instance, it is important to clear out any area where water can gather and stand because mosquitoes can lay eggs in this stagnant water.
Some examples of areas to clean up include:. Mosquito control can be difficult for homeowners to perform on their own because mosquitoes can hide in so many different areas. Additionally, most types of mosquito eggs are pretty hardy, which means that even if it gets cold or there is a drought, the eggs can typically survive until conditions improve.
This means that even if you think you have gotten rid of mosquitoes, their eggs or larvae might still be hiding in your yard and waiting until the weather gets better to come out and interrupt your backyard festivities.
However, a trained pest control professional can take care of everything for you effectively and efficiently, so you do not have to deal with the trouble and trials of trying do-it-yourself mosquito control. Pest control professionals have the knowledge and tools to help you pick the best treatment option for the specific issues that you are dealing with. These professionals can inspect your yard and help you deal with areas that might attract mosquitoes.
Goldfish, bass, guppies, bluegill, and catfish are all fish that eat mosquito larvae. The most important mosquito larvae-eating fish is the aptly named mosquito fish or Gambusia affinis.
This native Florida fish is arguably the most effective predator of mosquito larvae and is frequently used by mosquito control agencies to help control mosquitoes. As a native fish species, it can sustain a population is in natural and ornamental ponds and also in abandoned pools. They require no special feeding and thrive as long as they are protected from pesticides, chlorine, and garden sprays. Below is a quick look at fish that eat mosquito larvae and their effectiveness for mosquito control.
With a name like mosquito fish, you know this one has to top the list of mosquito larvae predators. As the name suggests, mosquito fish excel at eating mosquito larvae.
In fact, just one mosquito fish can eat an estimated several hundred mosquito larvae a day. In areas where they are not native, they can quickly out-compete other fish species for mosquito larvae, but in Florida lakes and ponds they are just fine. Guppies are related to the mosquito fish, and share their appetite for mosquito larvae. They come in colors that are more exciting than mosquito fish, so if you want a fish that is more decorative in a small pond, these are your best bet.
Minnows are very hardy and very common fish that eat mosquito larvae. They reproduce fast and prolifically, but are subject to predation from larger fish in a lake or pond. Although the fish above are the major consumers of mosquito larvae in Florida lakes and ponds, there are other fish that also feast on mosquito larvae. These include the sailfin molly and least killifish. But the most important fish predator, by far, is the Gambusia affinis, commonly known as the mosquito fish.
This is probably the most effective predator of mosquito larvae and is used by many mosquito control agencies to augment their control efforts. Most adult frogs and tadpoles do not include mosquitoes as a large part of their diet.
Tadpoles infrequently feed on mosquito larvae and instead generally feed on small, suspended particles of plant-related materials. However, mosquito larvae predation is known for three species of North American tadpoles — the spade foot toad, green tree frog and giant tree frog. While not a direct act of predation, tadpoles may compete with mosquito larvae for food. The red-eared slider turtle is generally thought to be the most voracious turtle that feeds on mosquito larvae.
Damselflies While damselflies are not as effective in controlling mosquitoes as dragonflies, their aquatic stage also consumes many mosquito larvae. Each stage sets up more and more pockets of cells that will later grow and change to become parts of the adult body. It is shaped like a comma, has no mouth, and swims by a sort of kicking motion unlike the wriggling of the larva.
It has two trumpet shaped breathing tubes on the top of its head rather than the one on its rear as in the larval stage. Like larvae, the pupae are also sensitive to light changes, swimming to the bottom if anything moves over the water. If pupae become stranded due to the drying out of their water pool, they are still able to turn into mosquitoes, if they are not first eaten or exposed to too dry of conditions.
They can also kick and bounce around until they come to a new pool of water, if there is one nearby. If the conditions are right, it only takes a few days for the pupa to transform into an adult.
The insides of the pupa change while it rests on the surface, parts breaking down while new parts form. After the change fully takes place, the adult is ready to break free.
During the last few minutes the pupa loses the ability to swim around and can only float on the surface. Soon after the top part of the pupa splits open and the adult mosquito squeezes out of the pupal skin.
It is able to do so because it is still soft and will harden within the next hour. The adult climbs out of the pupa and stands on the surface. In a few minutes it is able to make its first flight to a nearby tree or wall to rest while it finishes developing.
It is the form that makes those itchy bumps we get. It is the form that can spread disease. While the other forms are not very well known, the adult mosquito is a creature that is known to almost everyone in the entire world. It does, however have a range of activity that is probably not known to most people. One of the first important things to cover is that only the females feed off of blood. The females use the blood to nourish and develop eggs.
Otherwise both males and females feed on honey-dew, nectar from flowers, and juice from berries and fruit. It is important to note again that those mosquitoes that eat other larvae in their larval stage tend to not need any blood-meal to nourish eggs. These eating habits are a bit elusive, as nectar feeding usually happens early mornings and late evenings. In the lab, it is easy to show this need for a carbohydrate source by providing caged adults with a flask of sugar-water solution, made available to them with a paper towel or cotton wick, and depriving another group of the same.
They need a carbohydrate meal every couple of days to survive. To find a blood meal, however, is vital if a female is to lay eggs.
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