Mosquito larvae in my water trays

[seedjar]

So the other day I noticed my D. multifida had snared a nice big mosquito. I laughed to myself (I'm sadistic that way) and thought, 'Serves them right.'
But then, today, I noticed another. And upon further inspection, it appears my water trays are full of happy little larvae! If I had the cash, I'd think of this as a great excuse to buy some Genlisea and Utricularia, but that's not much of an option right now. I'm going to change the water in all my trays later today, but I don't think that will take care of getting all the little crawlies out of the soil, or my Nepenthes pitchers. I absolutely hate mosquito bites (so I suppose I kind of deserve this) and I don't want my apartment swarmed by them - what can I do?
I live in Olympia, WA where it's fairly mild and humid year round, so there are always mosquitos... are there any CPs that are good at catching the adults? My Drosera all seem to be pretty capable of doing the job, but I somehow don't think that the mosquitos are especially interested in them. Has anyone else dealt with this problem (besides just giving up and letting the mosquitos run wild?)
Your advice would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks,
~Joe

 

[TheAlphaWolf]

I don't think Genislea eat any mosquito anything

 

[Bugweed]

What I have done (because I had to) was to strain the water thru a super fine strainer and strain out the larvae. It worked, and I didn't have to lose all that water.

 

[herenorthere]

I let water trays go dry, hopefully thinning the larvae population. When the weather doesn't cooperate, I'll pour the contents of a tray into one of my big Sarracenia pots to filter out the water's occupants.

 

[TheAlphaWolf]

I say that the best method for mosquito control is to leave tons of standing water and then dump it. That way the existing mosquitoes waste their life by doing that, and it doesn't hurt the environment. we shall prevail!

 

[seedjar]

Hmm... straining the water sounds appealing. The larvae won't survive in the wet soil? I'd imagined that they could just swim around in the water pockets and make their way back into the tray. I'll give it a try, thanks!
~Joe

PS - Here's a good question. Anybody know how long the larval period is for mosquitos? I wonder how often I'll have to do this...

 

[TheAlphaWolf]

it depends on temperature and the species.

 

[Finch]

Quote[/b] ]I let water trays go dry, hopefully thinning the larvae population. When the weather doesn't cooperate, I'll pour the contents of a tray into one of my big Sarracenia pots to filter out the water's occupants.

that still alows the eggs to survive

 

[TheAlphaWolf]

yes, but if you do it often enough, the eggs that hatch will be larvae which will die.

 

[Finch]

 

[WildBill]

I buy "Mosquito Dunks" which contain a larvacide that the developing larvae eat. I break off small pieces and put them in my trays. They look like doughnuts, and I think it was about 8 bucks for a pack of 6 at Home Depot. They are supposed to last 30 days, once placed in the water.

I hope this helps.

Bill

 

[endparenthesis]

They make great fish food if you have any.

 

[TunaSurprise]

An ultricaria, or an aldrovanda would be good though, make lots of cuttings, and you have mosquito control, totally enviornmentally benign!

 

[pinkerton]

i find my sundews take fine care of the mosquitos here. i'm in Everett, WA just bit farther north. they also seem to die off (or down) this time of the year. besides, if the plants don't get 'em my cats have a blast chatching the ones that slip through.
...of course the down side is i've lost plants from them tearing around the place too. it's an odd harmony.

 

[Odysseus]

You know...if you have at LEAST 10.00 dollars to spare or someone willing to go in on some plants with you, I find Lee's Botanical Gardens VERY reasonable with prices and have some great quality Utrics as well.

I bought from them last year twice and was never disappointed.

Here is the site's link:

http://www.lbg-cp.com/prices.cfm?device=Bladderwort

There is a ten dollar minimum, but it is worth it to throw some gibba in there.

 

[seedjar]

Lots of good ideas... I poured the water though my pots again with little success - there seem to be less larvae but I still see them in there (probably need to wash the tray out better.) I'm going to toss some of the water in with my bettas, although I'll probably change their water before the larvae are big enough for eating. I'd like to add some aquatic carnivores, but I can't buy any immediately; I'm going to go on a little treasure hunt for U. inflata some time soon around the local lakes.
Alpha, it sounds like you know a little something about mosquitos (or at least have more available info than I do.) What's the shortest larval gestation I can expect? My apartment is fairly warm (68 degrees is cold, according to my roommate) and there's enough stuff in the water (soil, bits of live sphagnum) to keep the larvae well fed as far as I know.
Thanks again,
~Joe

 

[TheAlphaWolf]

Quote[/b] ]Alpha, it sounds like you know a little something about mosquitos (or at least have more available info than I do.) What's the shortest larval gestation I can expect? My apartment is fairly warm (68 degrees is cold, according to my roommate) and there's enough stuff in the water (soil, bits of live sphagnum) to keep the larvae well fed as far as I know.

I'll be darned if I know! LOL That's why I didn't provide any extra info I only knew that because it's the same with almost ever other cold blooded organism (and I had heard it before)
How Mosquitoes Work
while you're at howstuffworks.com, I recomend reading the "how bats work" article. Everyone should know that! (especially those of you batophoboes! ) I love bats... they're so cool... not to mention useful (eg. they eat mosquitoes)

 

[Finch]

definatly, i should get more involved with batconservation . org (batcon.org)

 

[TheAlphaWolf]

cool pics

so everyone... what's the lesson here? bats are the solution! they eat tons of mosquitoes every night. so get a bat house!

(for those lazy ones of you out there.. here's the link http://science.howstuffworks.com/bat.htm ... hey, I'm lazy too!)

 

[TheAlphaWolf]

Quote[/b] ]Most bat species are not only harmless to humans, but actually beneficial. Insectivorous bats are far and away the best bug-killers on the planet. The little brown bat, one of the most common North American bat species, can catch and eat as many as 1,200 mosquitoes in one hour. The famous colony of Mexican free-tail bats that lives underneath the Congress Avenue Bridge in Austin, Texas, will eat up to 30,000 pounds of insects in a single night. A Mexican free-tail colony in Bracken Cave, Texas, containing more than 20 million bats, will eat roughly 200 tons of insects in a night

now if you ask me that's a little over the top... i mean HOW can they catch so much? wow! but I guess they have their reasons for saying that and I have none