We’ve been experiencing a run of awesome storms here in the South East of Queensland, Australia over the past week. The northern suburbs of Brisbane (Queensland) have had it hard – devastation of huge trees that have been there for hundreds of years have come down, due to poor soil support from the drought which were hit by high-speed winds. Homes have lost their roofs and creeks have broken their banks. But all through this, the great thing has been the rain… loads of it! The downside is pockets of trapped water that are ideal for Mosquito Larvae to develop in.
Now, I have to admit, I’m a bit of a fair-weather adventurer, and haven’t ventured outside much (except to save a long-neck turtle stuck down a water catchment drain yesterday). So my garden hasn’t seen my adoring little face for a number of days… until today!
Apart from another plethora of zucchinis, a few hundred snails, and a very happy garden – what did I find?
Dragonfly or Damselfly Larvae in my Frog Pond!
Yipee!!!
Dragonflies and Damselflies are the ultimate flying predators… step over Peregrine Falcons with your super sonic speeds, stand aside Spangled Drongos with your jaw-dropping aero-gymnastics, and forget the race you Australasian Gannets with your spectacular dives through the air…
Dragonflies and Damselflies win!
They catch their prey (usually mosquitos or flies) in the air, by scooping it up with their legs, and then gobble, gobble, gobble.
Years ago Dragonflies earned the incorrect nick-name of ‘Bull Stingers” or “Horse Stingers”. As the Dragonflies flew around the cattle’s faces, the cattle would stamp their hooves and shake their heads. People thought the Dragonflies were stinging the cattle – but they were wrong. The Dragonflies weren’t even touching the cattle, they were in fact catching flies! So they were actually doing the cattle and the farmers a favour!
Recently LTSH (Long Term Suffering Husband) told me that there were Mozzie Wrigglers (Mosquito Larvae) in my Frog Pond and it would need to be cleaned out. I have to admit I was surprised to learn that LTSH was outside apparently on a leisurely stroll that took him via the pond. Then I rationalised; he was either out there to get better reception on his mobile phone, or he was collecting some mulch for ‘scientific analysis’ (since he’s turned into the ‘Mulcho-o Man’ he’s been driving me nuts!), or then again it could have been that LTSH had turned into Narcissus once more (after that famous Avocado Facial Mask) and was gazing at his reflection again – in the pond!
Well, this morning when I checked the pond myself, I discovered there aren’t many Mozzie Wrigglers left and when I saw a Dragonfly (or Damselfly) Nymph stealthily sneak up on its prey and with lightning speed grab the wriggler, I knew why the wriggler numbers were down. I counted four nymphs scouting the waters, and there are quite possibly more hiding around the water plants in there.
Those things are savage! The majority of Dragonfly and Damselfly Nymphs are aquatic and eat anything that moves… ripper, that means Mozzie Wrigglers!
I’ve seen a few Damselflies in our back garden, and one very pretty blue Dragonfly in our front yard that I implored to visit our vegetable patch and pond… and it’s quite possible she did.
Ok, here’s how to get Dragonflies and Damselflies to visit your garden:
- Obviously, don’t use pesticides or herbicides (Dragonflies and Damselflies are sensitive to these).
- Create a permanent pond that gets both shade and sun (you want enough shade so that the water doesn’t get too hot, and just enough sun to keep your water plants happy and healthy).
- Add native water plants to the pond, so the nymph can climb out of the water when it’s time to be an adult.
Remember that Permaculture is about working with nature, not against it. Attracting Dragonflies and Damselflies to your garden will not only give you the helping hand of an awesome pest management official by naturally keeping your mosquito and fly population under control, they are also beautiful insects to watch.