Wouldn’t summer be absolutely perfect if we didn’t have mosquitoes? Nothing ruins a peaceful summer evening quite like a swarm of mosquitoes. You probably don’t even notice them until it is too late, you’re bitten and now you’re going to be itchy for days. Since everything in nature has a natural predator that begs the question “who bites the mosquitoes?” Let’s look at the natural predators of mosquitos and just imagine how bad it would be if these animals didn’t exist.
Bats
While most of us find bats pretty creepy the fact is they are pretty useful in keeping the mosquito population under control. A single bat can eat thousands of mosquitoes in one night! If you don’t mind bats then you can construct a bat house on your property and hope they enjoy their dinner.
Birds
There are a variety of different birds that will feast on mosquitoes and they can help cut down on the number of mosquitoes living in your backyard. In order to attract these birds you will have to build them a bird house, but be careful with adding a bird bath standing water is what can bring mosquitoes there in the first place.
Dragonflies
Dragonflies are not only cool looking but they eat mosquitoes too. Dragonflies are deadly to mosquitos in two ways. Both lay their eggs in the water but when dragonflies become nymphs in the water they are feasting on the mosquito larvae that is getting ready to be a full grown mosquito. Once both are adults then dragonflies eat adult mosquitoes. We need more dragonflies to help rid us of mosquitoes.
Fish
Much like dragonfly nymphs fish find mosquito larvae to be a lovely delicacy. All kinds of fish will feed off mosquito larvae such as Bass, Catfish, Guppies, Goldfish and the Mosquito Fish. If you have a backyard pond then you might consider adding some of these to help cut down on the mosquito problem. They eat the mosquitoes long before they become adults and start biting you.
Even the dreaded mosquito has some natural enemies that helps to keep the population balanced. Yet there still seems to be millions of them living in your backyard. You want to be careful and make sure there is no standing water in your backyard. Not only will mosquitos be attracted to a water source but that is where they will lay their eggs and make millions of more mosquitoes.