Canadian mosquito capital seeks more dragonflies

[struggle4progress]

WINNIPEG, Manitoba (Reuters) - A Canadian city, besieged by voracious mosquitoes each summer, is trying to boost its dragonfly ranks amid hopes the larger flying insect will eat up the smaller blood-sucking pest.

Winnipeg, a Prairie city, is using less chemicals and targeting mosquitoes with a bacteria that kills their larvae but does not harm young dragonflies, entomologist Taz Stuart said on Wednesday.

"We're rebalancing that ecosystem again," Stuart said.

"We're seeing a lot more dragonflies," he said, adding two years of heavy rains have also helped bolster numbers. <snip>

http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=oddlyEnoughNews&storyID=2005-06-29T212242Z_01_MOL976812_RTRIDST_0_OUKOE-ENVIRONMENT-CANADA-MOSQUITO.XML

[izzie]

1. Well the black fly in Maine seem to leave when the dragonfly gets here.

They are also sort of pretty if you really look at the wings.

[XemaSab]

2. Dragonflies are ruthless killers

In south carolina in the swamp, the shady areas are infested with mosquitos, but not the sunny areas, because that's where the dragonflies hang out. We used to sit around at lunch and feed the dragonflies with bugs we swatted... good times, good times.

[struggle4progress]

3. The larval form even looks ferocious.