We don’t use ANY insecticides and it’s a point of pride, but it’s also the biggest challenge to the stability of growing our own food. Mosquitoes however do not pose a threat to our crops. But they are the bane of our existence, especially in the rainy season. Most know that bats and spiders prey on mosquitoes but what about dragonflies?
Until my interaction with this affable dragonfly in the food forest I didn’t know that they not only hunt mosquitoes, they are the top killer of adult mosquitoes beating out all other predators. Take a close look as this little guy consumes a mosquito, which seconds prior had been buzzing its way into my ear, WHOLE. Seconds later he was off again grabbing another mosquito then another and another always returning to his tree stake perch.
It was utterly mesmerizing to watch. Another example of the things we pass by in our daily lives completely oblivious to the roles, large and small, that all of these creepy crawlies play in our ecosystem and therefore our own lives. Another example of how something so small and seemingly insignificant can change your perspective on the natural world’s dance of life and death that plays out around us without even our tacit acknowledgment as we get lost in the commute to work, the chores and obligations of human-life.
If you’re not convinced, as we now are, that dragonflies don’t get the love they deserve here’s a few more facts we found in our post dragonfly epiphany;
-Dragonfly larvae, in which stage dragonflies spend most of their lives (up to five years) have a voracious appetite for mosquito larvae consuming thousands before they reach adulthood.
-Dragonflies have been around longer than the dinosaurs
-Dragonflies are powerful and agile fliers, capable of migrating across the sea.
-Dragonflies are also some of the insect world’s most efficient hunters, catching up to 95% of the prey they pursue.
-Dragonflies see faster than humans do, can see in 360 degrees, and nearly 80% of their brain is dedicated to sight.