| Kris Krieger 2005-09-27, 2:21 pm |
| I think it was Don who'd asked about this a couple weeks ago...at any rate:
http://www.nwf.org/backyardwildlife...dragonflies.cfm
http://magazine.audubon.org/backyard/backyard0306.html
Or, the short version:
A shallow pond, or a pond with shallow areas, especially, a gentle slope to
about 2' in depth. NO FISH - they'll eat all the nymphs, so you'll never
get an established population. Rocks on bottom, creating nooks and
crannies. A few different types of water plants with roots at various
levels (hiding places for the nymphs), also having various heights (above
water). In a small pond (i.e., half-barrel or similar size), yu can still
have a water lily, and a couple different sedges/rushes. When the nymphs
are mature, they climb up the water plants to emerge from the nymph body
and to dry their wings. Then, the adult dragonflies like to use tall
rushes as perches and "watchtowers". A dragonfly can spot a mosquito up to
a distance of 40 yards.
The pond will also attract mosquitoes, however, the dragonfy (and
demselfly) nymphs are ravenous and aggressive predators, so you might not
get any mosquitoes actually hatch from the pond. ALso, a pump that keeps
the water very gently agitated will disgourage many mosquitoes - but you
need some larvae to feed the nymphs.
HTH
|