Description
This article is from the Aquaria:
Food FAQ, by Oleg Kiselev, Don Wilson, and Steve Bartling.
06 Mosquito Larvae
Uses:
Most adult fish of smaller species love them. As long as fish
are bigger than the larvae, they'll eat them. Aquatic larvae of
flying insects is the main ingredient in the diet of many small
fish in the wild.
Culturing:
Very simple. Put a wide-mouth bucket or a barrel or a tub of
water outside. Throw in small amounts of evaporated milk or
grass clippings in a nylon bag to seed the water with bacteria
and promote the growth of infusoria, mosquito larvae's food
sources; green water works well, too. Some people even use
manure! If there are mosquitoes in the area, 2-3 weeks later
there will be larva in the water.
Another means of culturing is to use a child's wading pool with
a small amount of grass clippings (no herbicides, please) added
to encourage the water to stagnate, then wait for the
mosquitoes to breed in it. After a couple of weeks, large
numbers of larva can scooped up with a coarse fish net. In this
sort of "wild culture", one must sneak up on the pool to net
them, so that the larvae don't dive to the bottom when they
detect movement.
Other methods include filling a one gallon bucket with garden
pond water (tap water takes too long to age!), then adding a
cup or two of fine soil and allow it to sit for a few days.
After the larvae begin to appear, one may use a large aquarium
net to strain the water into another bucket, thus capturing the
mosquito larvae that are now present.
A major problem with these techniques is that the neighbours
make take exception to mosquitos being cultured. However,
provided all the larvae can be captured and used, an optimist
might see it as a means of population control since the
mosquitoes are no longer breeding in a pond somewhere where all
control is lost.
Another problem is that if one adds too many larvae and the
fish don't eat them all, there may be a significant increase in
the mosquito population in your house, as the uneaten larvae
pupate, then develop into mosquitoes.
Sources:
Wait for the little bloodsuckers to discover the container of
evil-smelling bacterial soup (=culture), or go find "floats" of
mosquito eggs in a nearby lake or puddle. They look like rafts
of eggs, all glued together.
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aquaria, fish, acquarium, tank, live food
