Mosquito control in ponds
nuisance pest
It’s wonderful to have a water feature such as bird baths, insect baths or ponds as part of your summer garden. Water attracts birds as well as many species of beneficial insects, including bees, butterflies, damselflies and dragonflies.
However, ponds are the perfect habitat for mosquito larvae. Fortunately it's easy to prevent mosquitoes in your pond.
What to do:
- Change the water in your bird bath often - at least every other day to keep water fresh for birds and to prevent mosquito larvae.
- Install a pump that gurgles or spouts water. Mosquitoes prefer to lay eggs in still water. As long as there are ripples on the surface of the pond, mosquito larvae won't last. Be sure to get the correct size of pump for your pond.
- Get some fish – they love to nibble on mosquito larvae.
- Better yet, get a pump and some fish.
As a last resort:
- Mosquito dunks containing Bt-israelensis (Bt-i) will kill mosquito larvae in ponds and are harmless to fish, wildlife and people. However, Bt-i may also kill dragonfly and damselfly larvae. These are important beneficial insects which ironically also eat many mosquitoes!
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