question about dragonfly larvae

[terracore]

I built a small pond for our Muscovy ducks, but unfortunately I had to fence the ducks away from the pond to keep our dog away from them. I looked at the pond today and it looked to be full of shrimp! I googled the image and they are not shrimp. They are dragonfly larvae. It is a small pond made out of a blue tarp in a depression I made and it has a ton of them!

Dragonfly larvae are great because they eat mosquito larvae. Adult dragonflies are great because they eat adult mosquitoes and any other insect that they are physically capable of devouring. I am excited to have a small pond full of dragonfly larvae.

So here is my question. What can I do to not screw this up?

[taropatch]

They eat little fish too but generally that's not the problem as the mosquito fish multiply fast. To answer your question, do nothing. After moulting several times they fly off. Seems like your ducks would use them as Hors d'oeuvres.

[Malapuaao]

Be sure to add guppies to keep mosquito out!

aloha

[Malapuaao]

quote:

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Originally posted by Malapuaao

Be sure to add guppies to keep mosquito out, larvae are not enough

aloha

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aloha

[Lee M-S]

they'll kill small goldfish, too

you probably need a variety of plants for them; they like to crawl up reeds or similar to molt (I find the husks still attached)

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[Kenney]

You're so lucky to have a dragonfly nursery. They're such great insects, and beautiful too. I heard they eat more mosquitos than any other insect. I leave my back doughboy a bit dirty so they can grow in peace. We see them come back generation after generation to drink and leave their little ones. I'm always happy to see the shells they leave behind when they emerge. We need mosquito eaters..