Mosquito population control

Hello, I've recently moved in a property with a decent sized garden. However, it hasn't been a month and I'm already tired of having a literal army of mosquito waiting for me outside. This got me wondering, what can I do to control their population ? One or two mosquitoes I can deal with, but there's way too many.

So far, I've though about :
- Making bat houses
- Planting carnivorous plants (are there any mosquito eating specie that can survive outdoor in France ?)
- Planting plants that naturally repels mosquitoes

However, I am not sure which plants (carnivorous or not) to use; and maybe there are other effective way to reduce thee number of mosquitoes. Which one would be good ? Are there other things like the bat house I can do to reduce their number or repel them ? As far as I know, there are no ponds or small body of water in my garden, but I've heard there are a few nearby.

My sincere belief is that nothing can really be done to control mosquito populations.  Some things help to keep them away from a certain area for a limited time.  Of everything I've used, I once purchased some super-concentrated garlic liquid that you mixed with water and sprayed in the area you wanted to protect.  It worked really well but had to be reapplied fairly often.  I have no idea if it kept beneficial insects away as well.  I think I have tried nearly everything else there is with very limited success.  If I were in your position, I would use the garlic spray again.

It doesn't fit for everyone, but I like the idea of aquaculture large enough to draw local mosquitoes to lay eggs there. If there just so happens to be an insectivorous minnow on in the system's lower trophic levels, you've just turned your abundance of mosquitoes into fish food.

-CK

Swallows can eat 850 mosquitos per day. A big shame their population is collapsing. I let them in the barn and hung a little concrete nest for them, which they didn't use this year. They made their own one with mud. They came late this year and have tripled in population in my village, but every year less return from Africa. I've got a pond so should have lots of mosquitos, but i never see them in there. I do see them in the rainbarrels, lots, years ago i used to catch nontonecta, common backswimmer bugs and moved them into the rainbarrels, but now the fish eat the backswimmers and the mosquitolarvae. i used to need a net before swallows were around, and there are more bats as well, probably because i got so much insects they all come to feed.
There are other birds that eat them too, so get more trees on the go and perennials that attract insect which attract birds.
And i agree with Trace, garlic spray! You're in France now, i use it as deodorant and mouth spray alike. ;)

Our home backs onto a swamp but we don't have major mosquito problems (we do have some but it's one here and there, not a lot). I believe its because we have a lot of mosquito predators, both birds and dragonflies. If I had a mosquito problem my first try at getting rid of them would be to try to attract dragonflies. They like standing water; certain plants and warm rocks. If you have a mosquito problem you probably already have the standing water somewhere.

A fellow started this thread up not too long ago:
Mosquito trap

A bad mosquito problem usually means they are breeding somewhere nearby, certainly within a quarter mile and usually much less.  Patrol carefully for any ephemeral water....this means rain water accumulated in something natural or artificial that eventually dries up after some weeks or months of dry weather, certainly before a year goes by.  Human trash....tires, containers, pieces of plastic...is a primary culprit but I have seen larvae swimming in magnolia leaves on the ground in rainy weather.  Sometimes a problem is up overhead out of sight....like a hole in a tree where a branch has broken off or a crack in some bamboo etc.  One time I tracked a bad problem down to a badly hung gutter right overhead that was out of level and rainwater had piled up in the blind end!  
    Counterintuitive as it may seem, permanent water is less of a problem, and in fact a valuable means of control is to establish a small permanent pond on the property.  This is because permanent water breeds as many mosquito predators as mosquitoes.  Keep it stocked with minnows or mosquito fish and these will control most of the larvae, and meanwhile the dragonflies, frogs, toads, etc. that are attracted will be breeding there and then their adults will disperse into the wider landscape to go on eating mosquitoes and other insects!

ponds don't breed mosquitoes, because ponds breed other things that eat the larvae (in general) --The best breeding ground for mosquitoes is a hoofprint --enough water for larvae but not enough for fish and other predators.

A piece of plastic trash on the ground  that catches water, any small containers-- these are likely sources for your mosquito population. I have heard of people that deliberately set out small containers of water, then entice mosquitoes to lay their eggs--then dump them before the larvae can escape,but be quick and don't forget to empty the containers religiously.

There is also a trap that can be made that is supposed to be quite effective and a few of  these scattered around might eliminate the problem altogether.

There was also a trap I remember that essentially used a coarse weave  black sock Any course weave cloth will do but dark is important) half submerged in the water, partially pulled through a hole in the container, with screen securely fastened over the top. This lures the mosquitoes to lay eggs on the dark wet sock, then the larvae could live in the container but not escape to the open air. Sorry I couldn't locate the link, and that's the best I can remember it.  The first trap url looks promising to eliminate adults, and the second one may lure the breeders to waste their progeny.

The second trap needs to be periodically refilled with water since it will evaporate periodically.

good luck

Using neem leaves (and oil too, perhaps), is supposed to render the eggs inviable. Also, I agree that you should have a fish pond. We had a ton of mosquitoes in Wisconsin until we installed a pond and put some goldfish in there. That's all they ate, and they got BIG!

Here in Haiti, we had an enormous bug (including mosquitoes) problem when I first came, but a year or two after, when the trees began to mature, hundreds of pretty, noisy, yellow birds showed up and this year we haven't used the mosquito net once (I used to have to go to bed at sundown just to hide under the net).

So yeah. I'd do a pond and attract as many predators as possible. And the neem if it's accessible to you.

The trouble with mosquitoes is that they are never really "gone".  As long as there are a few around, they can lay their eggs again with the next hatch.

If you have standing water that you can't drain, treat it with bits and dunks.  You just toss these in the open water and they dissolve.  Not harmful to animals, but they prevent the skeeters from reproducing well.  This article describes which one to use in which situation.

If you need to just keep the mosquitoes away while you work outside, look at a Mosquito killer.
.  They are much better than they used to be.  They will put a dent in the population but will not nip them at the reproductive stage the way the bits and dunks do.

As our garden has become "overgrown" with dozens of species of plants the mosquito pressure has been less and less. I can sit in the garden or work in the bushes without bites. I think the many different smells of all the plants mask our scent. On the flip side when we walk the 20 paces to the neighbors front lawn they swarm. Oh, and standing water isn't the cause of our mosquitoes, moist soil is.

Erik Pehoviack wrote:As our garden has become "overgrown" with dozens of species of plants the mosquito pressure has been less and less. I can sit in the garden or work in the bushes without bites. I think the many different smells of all the plants mask our scent. On the flip side when we walk the 20 paces to the neighbors front lawn they swarm. Oh, and standing water isn't the cause of our mosquitoes, moist soil is.

True, they can breed in moist soil. But they can also breed in a bird bath, clogged gutter, even an old tire, so standing water also needs to be managed.

I've had limited success curbing the mosquitoes in my yard by making a spray of water, handful of chopped hot peppers, abt 1/4 cup veg oil, and a squirt of non-toxic dishsoap. Mix it up, let it steep a few days and spray. I spray it on the lawn and all the shrubs.

Aside from being a biting nuisance, mosquitos and their larvae are an important part of the food chain, and become meals for several species of birds and bats, bugs like dragonflies, and other critters such as frogs/toads and their tadpoles. One technique that people can do, and that's already been mentioned in this thread, is to reduce the mosquitos breeding habitat, like keeping gutters clean and making sure they don't sag and hold standing water for example. For those of us that have birdbaths, if the mosquito larvae aren't being eaten regularly from visiting birds and bugs such as dragonflies, just dumping the water out and refilling it regularly will put an end to any larvae reaching adulthood. I think another good approach to mosquito control is providing habitat for and putting up bird houses that attract birds such as purple martins, swallows, warblers, and other migratory songbirds that eat mosquitos. For those of us that have ponds, tadpoles will feast on mosquito larvae, and so will dragonfly nymphs. Small fish will eat mosquito larvae too. Of course a few mosquito larvae will become adults, and a few of those adults that run the gauntlet of flying creatures that want to eat them, will land on and bite us. Nature will find a balance and prevent a mosquito infestation which can make being outdoors for people miserable, and sometimes we just need to lend nature a helping hand. Dollars spent on building birdhouses or bat houses will go much further that the same dollars spent on something like mosquito dunks, which while may be effective in reducing mosquito larvae numbers but are also depleting a food source for the aforementioned wildlife, things like dunks will only last so long and need to be purchased again.

Something that I just became aware of  besides water sources there are mosquitoes that can breed in wet soil.      

Bat houses are documented to work if you have one that matches the size of the problem.

I use bacteria ( mosquito bits )    as the bacteria will breed and match the size of the problem.

Mosquito fish in all pond areas is a good idea.      Tossing in a Christmas tree into your ponds give small fish a place to hide from the bigger fish and they love larva.

I used the garden bird bath because I found that bathing the birds in the garden was a better way to attract birds into my home than feeding them. But that attracts some other guests, especially mosquitoes. So, I discovered some ways to keep mosquitoes out of bird baths by changing the water regularly and use mosquito dunks. In addition, using moving water in bird bath is also the effective method.

I'm allergic to mosquito bites so have a very strong dislike for them. Used to the only thing I knew to do try to reduce their numbers was to diligently make sure there was nothing around the place holding water for them to breed. Then I got the idea to encourage them to breed. I keep several buckets of water siting around in places where I can easily check them everyday. When I see the larva, I dump and refill.  

I don't know that it really helps all that much but at least those larva that might have found a friendlier place to mature are killed so those particular adults wasted their time and eggs, ha, ha!

Steve Earsom wrote:I used the garden bird bath because I found that bathing the birds in the garden was a better way to attract birds into my home than feeding them. But that attracts some other guests, especially mosquitoes. So, I discovered some ways to keep mosquitoes out of bird baths by changing the water regularly and use mosquito dunks. In addition, using moving water in bird bath is also the effective method.

In my journey of discovering how to keep mosquitoes out of bird baths, this is the most effective method I discovered. In my opinion, it is the most cost-effective way. It totally eliminates mosquitoes. And it even attracts more of the beautiful birds I enjoy watching around my bird bath.

I live in a housing estate in the tropics. The "neighbours" tend to call the council in to my property. I got fined once because they found larvae in some 5-gallon bucket I use as a rain barrel despite the net across the mouth preventing mosquitoes from flying out.

In the latest notice for action, they specifically mention trees and bushes that collect water. I examine my banana plants and indeed after a rain, there is water collected at the crown. Bummer. I rectify this by pouring in fine sand to displace even that little bit of water.

BUT nobody addresses the elephant in the room. All our houses have septic tanks. If you go to the WHO website, it is the number one source of mosquitoes.

Anyone know how to deal with this? We can't cap the vent pipe because it is there for some reason - to disperse explosive gases perhaps?

I mentioned this in my letter to the council. Maybe experiment with flushing dry ice chunks down the toilet and suffocate the larvae but they have not gotten back to me.  

If the septic tank is vented to the open air, such that mosquitoes can breed in it, is it possible to cover the vent with screen, so as to allow it to continue to vent, but exclude the mosquitoes?