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Introduction

Lowering Mosquito Population in LES Community Gardens

Using Dragonflies and Mosquito Traps

Marina Delgado, Chandani Shrestha, Ivan Yang, Natasha Marina, and Marc-Anthony Suarez

BioBus Summer 2022

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Methodology

Results

Conclusion

Reducing mosquito populations in the community gardens mproves the visitor’s experience. Mosquito bites inflame, irritate, and mark the skin, making it a staple for anyone visiting a garden. Mosquitoes are vectors for viruses such as Dengue, Zika, West Nile, and parasites like malaria that are detrimental to human health. Furthermore, as West Nile is still prevalent in NYC, it is vital to stress the reduction of mosquitos in a heavily populated area such as NYC. The experiment tested dragonfly nymphs to see whether or not they were effective in reducing the mosquito population. Their diet consists of multiple insects, mosquito larva being their primary prey. Mosquitoes lay eggs in shallow still water which hatch up to a hundred larvae that hide in crevices big predators cannot reach. However, dragonfly nymphs live in the same areas and can continuously hunt mosquito larva for up to 5 years until they become adults. Adult dragonflies, nicknamed mosquito-hawks, can eat up to hundreds of mosquitos daily.

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Abstract

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Acknowledgements

Materials Needed

  • 12 dragonfly nymphs
  • 12 Tupperware containers
  • 4 butterfly nets
  • Mosquito larvae
  • Spring water
  • Aquatic plants
  • Sticks .

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  1. Create an environment for the nymphs
    1. Prepare containers with spring water, aquatic plants, and surfacing sticks.
    2. Once the nymphs arrive, separate the nymphs into their own container. Have 3 containers per butterfly net
    3. On testing day, pick 3 nymph enclosures and pipette 3 mosquito larvae into each enclosure
    4. Record the amount of larvae that each nymph ate every hour until all larvae are done.
    5. On non-testing days, feed them daphnia, fruit flies, and cut-up worms.

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This experiment seeks to collect as many mosquitos as possible, this is done by creating and designing an efficient trap that would maximize mosquito collection, this is calculated by the number of mosquitoes trapped and how many died.

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Materials Needed

  • A yard of net material
  • Several dozen pipe cleaners
  • Needle and thread (or glue)
  • String
  • Scissors
  • Bowl/container

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  1. Create two equal-sized rings by braiding pipe cleaners
  2. Make a significantly smaller ring out of pipe cleaners
  3. Place thing as the diagram shows
  4. Secure rings by sewing them to the net
  5. Flip the bottom of the trap into the inside and secure it with string to the top ring
  6. Attach bowl or container to the second ring with string or metal wire

Results of mosquito traps

    • Trial 1: The two cotton facial pads soaked in floral scents caught no mosquitoes. However, this trap attracted northern yellow sac spiders instead. Hung on the tree.
    • Trial 2: The trap that used water, yeast, and sugar attracted no mosquitoes but attracted ants and spiders.
    • Trial 3: The trap that used water, yeast, and honey attracted some mosquitoes. It also caught some fruit flies, beetles, and moths.

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    • It took up to 4 hours for the nymphs to eat all the mosquito larvae. Although the nymphs were successful in eating the mosquitoes' larva, the time it took to eat 3 larvae was too long to create a significant difference in the mosquito population

Our study found that dragonfly nymphs, while they do hunt and eat mosquito larvae, are not very efficient at it. On average, it takes the dragonfly nymphs 3 to 4 hours to eat all 3 mosquito larvae that were placed in their containers. The traps were also not very good at trapping mosquitoes but did seem to draw them in alongside other insects. However, we do suspect that dragonflies, when they are fully grown, will contribute a lot more to mosquito population control than dragonfly nymphs. The limiting factor in this experiment is not being able to obtain live mosquitos, for further experiments it is recommended to either raise the mosquitos or have the proper clearance to buy the mosquitos.

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  • BioBus
  • Loisaida Center
  • All the Community Gardens
  • Marina Delgado

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Reducing mosquito populations was brought up by members of the community gardens, as they contain an abundance of mosquitoes that pose a problem to daily visitors and workers. This experiment seeks to reduce the mosquito population in LES community gardens by creating and designing mosquito traps and implementing dragonfly nymphs to reduce mosquito larva populations. The honey + yeast trap was the most successful in capturing insects, particularly more mosquitos than the perfume trap and the sugar + yeast trap. The experiment also found that dragonfly nymphs successfully ate all the mosquito larvae after 4 hours. However, they do not contribute enough to mosquito population reduction.

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Image of Natasha during the process of creating/designing the mosquito trap

La Plaza Community Garden

Simulated dragonfly nymphs environment

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Images of Mosquito Larvae. Just begun developing (Left) | Almost completed larval stage of life (Right)

Mosquito trap version 1 [Yeast + Sugar]

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  • Floral scented perfume
  • Honey
  • YEst
  • Sugar
  • Water
  • Cotton balls/pads

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