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Post by MamIDdau on Jun 23, 2007 19:34:40 GMT
In a saucer of water that's at the top of the garden full of rain water, there appears to be lil tadpole type things in the water...
what the hell are they?!
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Post by retropwr on Jun 23, 2007 20:07:25 GMT
Probably something like mosquito larvae
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Post by oldmoleskins on Jun 24, 2007 7:58:29 GMT
...and probably like this, then:  less than a cm long, writhing around and beloved of trout... now, if you had a tiny trout... OM. |
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Post by andy on Jun 24, 2007 8:17:18 GMT
A lot of people put guppies or a siamease fighting fish in their water butts for the summer to keep them down....but should obviously be removed when it gets cooler
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Post by Chuckles on Jun 24, 2007 12:35:16 GMT
Do they really do that Andy, good idea but I can you just imagine getting a Guppie or Siamease fighting fish stuck in the spout of your watering can ;D I fill my watering cans from the top of my water butts.
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Post by oldmoleskins on Jun 24, 2007 14:58:24 GMT
On holiday in Crete, I saw lovely goldfish in the circular concrete 'mini reservoirs' alongside most market gardener's homes - there to eat the mossie larvae, and apparently doing very well on it...
Crete was a remarkably mossie-free experience, I'm a bit of a martyr to the mossie...
OM.
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Post by Rosefriend on Jun 24, 2007 18:10:43 GMT
We have 4 watering cans which are always full during the summer months - that is marvellous and no problem whatsoever.
However in rainy times or towards the end of summer my OH always insists on keeping them filled up and the result is what you have seen.
As our bedroom is over the Terrace, it means that we get more than our fair share of mossie's.
RF
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Post by Alicat on Jun 24, 2007 18:39:52 GMT
...and probably like this, then: less than a cm long, writhing around and beloved of trout... now, if you had a tiny trout... OM. I have those in my water butts too. - I didn't know what they were until I read in a magazine they are mozzie larve. If I remember correctly you can add a little olive oil or WD 40 to the water to deter them, haven't tried it myself yet.  putting a lid on the butts also helps. |
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Post by MamIDdau on Jun 24, 2007 19:15:58 GMT
right so should I just empty the saucer out onto the lawn then seeing as I don't have a small trout?
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Post by oldmoleskins on Jun 25, 2007 7:47:57 GMT
I guess so... unless you have a little cage with very fine mesh sides so's you can establish a sort of micro-aviary when they hatch out...
OM
ps that olive oil tip from Alicat is based on fact - the larvae have breathing tubes in their bums (I kid you not) and need from time to time to hang upside down at the surface with their tubes in the air, like tiny, tiny snorkels. Altering the surface tension makes it difficult for them to do that, or indeed to break through the film when they want to hatch out into the flying insect...
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Post by MamIDdau on Jun 25, 2007 8:16:46 GMT
Why would I want to keep the buggers if they're mozzies OM?!
At the moment they're just about a few mm long and dark brown/black so can't match them up to the photos. I'll turf them out anyway.
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Post by andy on Jun 25, 2007 9:03:01 GMT
On holiday in Crete, I saw lovely goldfish in the circular concrete 'mini reservoirs' alongside most market gardener's homes - there to eat the mossie larvae, and apparently doing very well on it... Crete was a remarkably mossie-free experience, I'm a bit of a martyr to the mossie... OM. Obviously it would be better to keep coldwater fish rather than tropical fish in such situations. In south east Asia....Thailand and cambodia etc, Siamease fighting fish are native to the slow streams and paddy fields and they say that they eat so may mosquito larvae that they are responsible for reducing malaria by 3/4  |
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Post by nightowl on Jun 25, 2007 9:24:27 GMT
I guess so... unless you have a little cage with very fine mesh sides so's you can establish a sort of micro-aviary when they hatch out... OM ps that olive oil tip from Alicat is based on fact - the larvae have breathing tubes in their bums (I kid you not) and need from time to time to hang upside down at the surface with their tubes in the air, like tiny, tiny snorkels. Altering the surface tension makes it difficult for them to do that, or indeed to break through the film when they want to hatch out into the flying insect... I wonder, if you stayed by the water and kept disturbing it so they have to stay down, how long it would take them to drown?  |
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Post by MamIDdau on Jun 25, 2007 9:52:28 GMT
hmmmm interesting thought there!! they're being disturbed enough at the moment with the heavy rain so I'll go inspect when it clears a little.
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putting a lid on the butts also helps.
