Do colonies of water daphnia prevent mosquito larvae

[SteveMid]

I have a tub outside in the garden with rain water in that originally I used to use to occasionally harvest mosquito larvae to feed my aquarium fish. A couple of years ago I put a culture of water daphnia in it and have farmed these ever since. They live through the winter and bloom to a larger population in spring and summer. However, since I added the daphnia I have not seen a single mosquito larvae. There are midge larvae in there but never a mosquito larvae. Is this a known phenomenon? Surely something is putting the mosquitos off laying their eggs?

 

[Fishfur]

It’s not something I’ve ever heard of. Daphnia are filter feeders so they shouldn’t have any effect on skeeter larvae, which breathe air rather than water & generally the insects are not fussy about water so long as it’s quiet & still.

It may be something else that’s different about the water conditions that’s making the tub unattractive to the skeeters.

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

It may be something else that’s different about the water conditions that’s making the tub unattractive to the skeeters.

You only get Mosquito larvae as pioneer species in new "ponds" that are organically rich. I think by the time it is suitable for Daphnia it has matured past that stage.

cheers Darrel