Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 19, Number 10, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 8 October 1897 — Enemies of the Mosquito. [ARTICLE]

Enemies of the Mosquito.

There are two natural enemies of the mosquito, the dragon fly and ithe spider. The latter, as we know, wages constant warfare upon all Insect life, and where mosquitoes are plentiful they form the chief diet of their hairy foe. The dragon fly is a destroyer of mosquitoes in at least two stages of life. The larva dragon fly feeds upon the larva mosquito, and when fully developed the latter dines constantly upon the matured mosquito. The dragon fly as a solution of the mosquito pest question is not wholly satisfactory, for while there is no serious difficulty to be encountered in the cultivation of dragon flies in large numbers, yet it is manifestly impossible to keep them in the dark woods where mosl- - abound, the hunting ground of the “darning needle” being among the flowers and dry ga ideas where the sunshine prevails. For this very important reason the scheme of hunting one kind of Insect with another must be abandoned as impracticable.—Washington Star.