|
Listed below are some of the more common
biological control agents used in mosquito control.
Bacillis thuringiensis israelensis
(Bti): Bti is a bacteria
used to control mosquitoes.
(label-msds) Bti can be purchased locally by homeowners
and does an excellent job controlling mosquitoes in the larval
stage.
Bacillis sphaericus
(Bs): Is another bacteria used to control mosquito larvae and under the right conditions, can remain effective for a couple weeks
(label-msds)
Mosquitofish: Visit
the
mosquitofish
web page which includes discussions on the use of mosquitofish
along with taxonomy, video and more. HTML
Purple Martins: Visit
The
Purple Martin Conservation Association web site. The following
excerpt was taken from their website. HTML
"Martins, like all swallows, are aerial
insectivores. They eat only flying insects, which they catch in
flight. Their diet is diverse, including dragonflies, damselflies,
flies, midges, mayflies, stinkbugs, leafhoppers, Japanese beetles,
June bugs, butterflies, moths, grasshoppers, cicadas, bees, wasps,
flying ants, and ballooning spiders. Martins are not, however,
prodigious consumers of mosquitoes as is so often claimed by companies
that manufacture martin housing. An intensive 3-year diet study
conducted at PMCA headquarters in Edinboro, PA, failed to find
a single mosquito among the 350 diet samples collected from parent
martins bringing beakfuls of insects to their young. The samples
were collected from martins during all hours of the day, all season
long, and in numerous habitats, including mosquito-infested ones.
Purple Martins and freshwater mosquitoes rarely ever cross paths.
Martins are daytime feeders, and feed high in the sky; mosquitoes,
on the other hand, stay low in damp places during daylight hours,
or only come out at night."
Bats: The following
excerpt was taken from the Bat
Conservation International web site. The article, Bats,
Man-Made Roosts, and Mosquito Control, discussed the use of
bats for mosquito control. HTML
"Bats are primary predators of vast
numbers of insects that fly at night, and some species consume
large numbers of mosquitoes. However, mosquito control is a complex
problem that rarely can be solved by a single approach, be it
bat houses or pesticides."
|