Mosquitoes Reproducing in Waterer

[wlantry]

Quote:
People who have never lived in Texas have no idea what conditions are like. I used to garden in SouthEast Texas, and oh my goodness: mosquitoes are the kings of the hill there. It's so extreme a fair amount of the food chain depends on them. Not so many decades ago, serving in the military in Houston qualified you for 'hazard pay,' precisely because of the mosquitoes...

 

[centrarchid]

Mosquitos are not restricted to Texas or the gulf states in general. I can go out at night and see 200 mosquitos on a single bird. Most of the problematic mosquitos are breeding in waters I can not control. More effort is invested in making certain birds can resist the mosquito load. Mosquitos more abundant further north but disease is more a problem at lower latitudes.

 

[Blooie]

Here we just call them "Teeth with Wings."

 

[Ridgerunner]

Dunks are an organic approved method to control mosquito larva. It is a specific form of BT that targets mosquitoes that is perfectly safe for your chickens. It gives the larva a belly ache so they stop eating and starve to death. It’s basically a disease that only affects mosquito and fly larva. It’s not a disease that will affect chickens, fish, or anything else.

 

[centrarchid]

Dunks are an organic approved method to control mosquito larva. It is a specific form of BT that targets mosquitoes that is perfectly safe for your chickens. It gives the larva a belly ache so they stop eating and starve to death. It’s basically a disease that only affects mosquito and fly larva. It’s not a disease that will affect chickens, fish, or anything else.

We need to watch for mosquitos developing immunity to BT. Has already be demonstrated with corn pests in the Midwest. If use against mosquitoes kept on small scale and done carefully it should delay development of resistant strains.

 

[frenchiegirl21]

We need to watch for mosquitos developing immunity to BT. Has already be demonstrated with corn pests in the Midwest. If use against mosquitoes kept on small scale and done carefully it should delay development of resistant strains.

That is a very good point. If I treat once a month/every other month would the develop resistance?

 

[Ridgerunner]

The problem with that corn is that the farmers were not using it in accordance with recommendations. I forget the exact pest they were using BT for, some specific caterpillar I think, but they were supposed to leave some strips untreated so the surviving pests did not develop that immunity. They would cross breed with pests from untreated area and not develop that super immune pest. There is a right way and a wrong way to do things.

That super-immunity is not going to happen with mosquitoes with all the other breeding grounds for mosquitoes around. Those things can breed in practically any pool of water. I don’t even come close to thinking that becoming super resistant is a problem with this BT using it like this.

To the best of my knowledge there are three different kinds of BT. One affects caterpillars and nothing else. Another one affects certain beetles and nothing else. The stuff in the dunks affects mosquitoes and fly larva and nothing else. You need to use the right one for the right problem.

 

[pdirt]

It's also very possible that the dozens of mosquitos that flew out of your waterer were not adults that just hatched inside your waterer, but adults that had hatched elsewhere and were laying eggs in there.

 

[frenchiegirl21]

It's also very possible that the dozens of mosquitos that flew out of your waterer were not adults that just hatched inside your waterer, but adults that had hatched elsewhere and were laying eggs in there.

My only question is how the heck did they get in? The top is securely screwed on... It is possible, I just dunno how the little buggers did it.

 

[Blooie]

My only question is how the heck did they get in? The top is securely screwed on... It is possible, I just dunno how the little buggers did it.

I suppose they get in the same way those pesky little boogers always seem to find the minuscule hole in my bedroom screen. I can't see it - but they know right where it is! <sigh>