What's new
TerraForums Venus Flytrap, Nepenthes, Drosera and more talk

Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

Bird bath pest control

West Nile has just reached my town, so far just the birds. We have a bird bath that is usually very stagnant, the perfect spot for mosquito larvae. My question is, is there a good utric that could survive in a bird bath. I have a U. Subulata and I think my climate isn't an issue. The most important issue is water, can utrics survive in tap water? Also trap size, mosquito larvae are probably a bit too large for most utrics. And finally growing space, it would need to be an aquatic, but the bird bath is an average sized bird bath. From The SG I found U. humboldtii.

Thanks, Chris
 
In my opinion, I don't this this would be a viable option: the bladderworts probably won't grow in tap water and even if they did, they won't eat enough of the larvae. I think you would be better off to empty and fill the birdbath everyday so the mosquitoes don't get any time to grow.
 
Oh no, I just had an accident over here this very morning and I could see it happening to somebody else. We had very heavy thunderstorms. I had several glass bowls of rain water on my patio that I had aquatic Utrics in. The rains came down from the heavens and my bowls started overflowing and when I looked outside, it didn't even register at first that the contents were flushing out. I had aquatic Utrics all over the patio and some of them were very small pieces.

There does exist a very viable option that is not harmful to you or the birds. A new biological control agent was released a few years ago that is not even harmful to aquatic plants. I use mosquito dunks in all of my ponds and water features. I am relatively sure these can be picked up at Menards or Home Depot although I buy them at a garden center. I have been using them ever since they were introduced. All data suggests BTI to be safe and I have no dead birds on the ground and my aquatic plants are perfectly fine. I use this in my large birdbath that I am continually adding water to due to evaporation but I must admit I just tip the other bird baths over to empty them and refill them. Aside from that, birds like fresh water.

http://www.marchbiological.com/L/mosquito_control.html

See what you think of this product.
 
Or maybe put some guppies in there?
 
Yeah the idea was more of just something I thought might be cool, something novel, but oh well didn't think it was too likely they could handle regular water.
 
Hey Laura can you use mosquito dunks in Utric ponds? Actually the pond is connected to the bog so will they damage any CPs?
 
I hear that spraying PAM cooking spray will prevent mosquito larvae from breathing. Though, I'm not sure the birdies will enjoy it. Would it be a possibility to put a mini fountain in the bird bath? That would stop the larvae as well. I don't know if birds will bathe if the water is moving.
 
no PAM. If they drink it it could make them sick, and if they take a bath in it it will mess up their feathers and they won't be able to fly or something.
I wouldn't put poison or anything there either.
 
I've used the puck things before, them seem to work and seem to be harmless but I just thought it would be cool to use and utric, and I'd be certain there was no health risk.
 
  • #10
Mosquito dunks aren't a poison, but contain a bacteria that kills specific organisms. In this case mosquito larva. There are also strains that kill other insect pests. The bacteria are naturally occuring in nature and as I said are specific to different insects. ie. mosquito dunks won't kill birds or lawn grubs. Lawn grubs require a different strain of bacillus thurengensis (sp?).
 
  • #11
[b said:
Quote[/b] ]Mosquito dunks aren't a poison, but contain a bacteria that kills specific organisms.  In this case mosquito larva.
 Very close to the point of almost hair splitting.

BTI = Bacillus thuringiensis subspecies israaelenses

It is actually the toxins that are produced by the bacterium that do in some types of mosquito larva (mostly Aedes species which are our bane). This toxin is termed delta-endotoxin.  It will also work quite effectively against fungus gnat larva.

No toxicity to fish, birds, non-target invertebrates, pets, wildlife, people, or plants.

I find integrated pest management to be very exciting. For anyone interested. check this link,
http://www.nal.usda.gov/bic/BTTOX/bttoxin.htm

Tre, no problems with Utrics to the best of my knowledge. They would be deemed a plant. I will use them in the pond that I am transferring aquatic Utrics to.

[b said:
Quote[/b] ]Hey Laura can you use mosquito dunks in Utric ponds?  Actually the pond is connected to the bog so will they damage any CPs?

Not the time or the place but if your sphagnum peat bog is really connected to your pond, you are going to have difficulty stabilizing your water and you can probably kiss clarity good bye. You will have some of the wildest KH and pH fluctuations you have ever seen and additionally, you will most probably have problems with string algae capable of out competing your Utrics as well as numerous other issues. Do you really have a sphagnum peat bog connected to a pond? What kind of mechanical and bio filtration are you using?  I don't know of any filtration that exists out there capable of encouraging a suitable habitat for nitrifying bacteria that is vital to pond health for that type of a set up.
 
  • #12
Thanks for that link Laura. I was going off a ten year+ memory of an article I had read that said something to the affect of the bacteria creating a crystal in the gut of the target insect. The crystals lacerated the gut allowing bacteria to get into the body of the bug and eventually kill it. Close to what the one article said.
[b said:
Quote[/b] ]When ingested by a susceptible insect, the protein toxin damages the gut lining, leading to gut paralysis. Affected insects stop feeding and die from the combined effects of starvation and tissue damage.
I don't recall the article refering to it as a toxin just as a protein crystal. Thus my thinking that it wasn't a "poison".

Of the articles I looked at on your link page (I checked the first 6 links), I think this one would be easiest to follow for most of the younger members. Biological Control: A Guide to Natural Enemies in North America
 
  • #13
Well, you have a very good memory! The crystals lacerating the gut was probably an analogy.

"Once it has been solubilised in the insect gut, the protoxin is cleaved by a gut protease to produce an active toxin of about 60kD. This toxin is termed delta-endotoxin. It binds to the midgut epithelial cells, creating pores in the cell membranes and leading to equilibration of ions. As a result, the gut is rapidly immobilised, the epithelial cells lyse, the larva stops feeding, and the gut pH is lowered by equilibration with the blood pH. This lower pH enables the bacterial spores to germinate, and the bacterium can then invade the host, causing a lethal septicaemia."

Jim Deacon
Institute of Cell and Molecular Biology
The University of Edinburgh
 
  • #15
Yes, Jim Deacon has such a way with words doesn't he? Here's to mosquito larva death by BTI! May all of our water features be sufficiently stocked with it.
 
Back
Top