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<p class=3D"MsoNormal"><b><span Quick checks in the 'mosquito' sections of the Manual of Nearctic Diptera and of Stephen Marshall's super new book 'Flies...' and even Harold Oldroyd's usually dependable 'Natural History of Flies' failed to disclose any discussion of what preys on adult mosquitos. Dave and others are undoubtedly correct about widespread predation upon the larval stages. To this the first two sources above add that some mosquito species have predaceous larvae that specialize in eating the larvae of other mosquito species, closer to the theme of Swift's recursion. While Swift picked the wrong target, noticing that a recent brief religious epigram made it through on to this network, the following more negative opinion from Ogden Nash may add some balance, and might offer a closer insight into local feelings about the mosquito: God in His wisdom Made the fly And then forgot To tell us why Steve (Halifax) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Quoting David & Alison Webster <dwebster@glinx.com>: > Hello: July 9, 2013 > No one has responded so I will start the ball rolling by quoting > Jonathan Swift; "So, naturalists observe, a flea / Hath smaller > fleas that on him prey;/ And these have smaller fleas to bite 'em / > And so proceed ad infinitum." > > As a pure guess I suspect that 99 eggs out of 100 (999/1000 ?) > in natural environments never reach the airborne stage. Those laid > in relatively clean artificial pools (cans, tires, rain barrels) may > do better but in the absence of other prey must eat those that hatch > later. > > Again, as a pure guess, I would expect aquatic insects > (especially larvae of Diving Beetles, Gyrinidae, Dragon Flies and > Damsel Flies and also perhaps immature and adult Hemiptera) small > fish and Amphibians at all stages to take their toll on egg rafts > and mosquito larvae. Pupae are sitting ducks for both aquatic and > surface feeders. And once eclosed they must run the gamut of air > feeders; Dragon and Damsel Flies, some Diptera perhaps, Swallows and > Spiders. > > Most life cycles if submitted as an engineering plan, to recycle > solar energy, would never get off of the drawing board; just too > improbable. > > Yt, Dave Webster, Kentville > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: Dave&Jane Schlosberg > To: naturens@chebucto.ns.ca > Sent: Monday, July 08, 2013 7:02 PM > Subject: [NatureNS] Who are mosquito predators? > > > What DOES eat mosquitoes? > > From: James W. Wolford > Sent: Monday, July 08, 2013 1:06 PM > To: NatureNS ; Fred Scott > Subject: [NatureNS] re bats vs. mosquitoes? > > THANKS, FRED! from Jim et al. > > > Begin forwarded message: > > > From: fred scott <fwscott@eastlink.ca> > Date: July 8, 2013 11:59:47 AM ADT > To: Hugh Broders <Hugh.Broders@SMU.CA>, "James W. Wolford" > <jimwolford@eastlink.ca>, Nature BNS <nature@blomidonnaturalists.ca> > Cc: Mark F Elderkin <elderkmf@gov.ns.ca>, Andrew Hebda > <HEBDAAJ@gov.ns.ca>, Donald McAlpine <Donald.McAlpine@nbm-mnb.ca> > Subject: RE: re bats endangered -- good for other insectivores?? > > Hi all, > > Hugh is quite right. The idea that insectivorous bats in North > America feed on mosquitoes is a myth derived from a gross > misunderstanding of a single old paper that provided the numbers of > mosquitoes eaten in one night by a captive big brown bat (Eptesicus > fuscus). It would normally prey on much larger insects, but made do > with mosquitoes because that was all it was offered. Also, it is a > much larger animal than the little brown, long-eared and tricolored > bats in NS. > > In fact the vast majority of the feeding time of insectivorous > bats is spent well above the zones where mosquitoes are found. Even > when bats forage within a meter or two of the forest canopy, there > are no mosquitoes there because there are no sleeping warm-blooded > animals in the air—they are all down in the foliage. The bats will > take a mosquito if they come across one, but to seek them out they > would have to dodge and flutter through cluttered environments under > trees and shrubs, or within a foot or two of the grass on fields or > meadows, and it wouldn't be an energetically efficient way to > forage, especially for such a small protein package. > > It is also wrongly believed by many that swallows and swifts > eats large amounts of mosquitoes, but they normally feed high in the > open air, well away from any zone where mosquitoes would be hanging > out. Mosquitoes normally rest on vegetation until some disturbance > or signal that could mean a blood meal stimulates them to take wing > and seek it out. > > Cheers, > > Fred
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