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Francis Small Heritage Trust, Inc. PO Box 414 · Limerick ME 04048 · 207-637-3510 · www.FSHT.org Caring for land and a way of life in Southern Maine |
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Francis Small Heritage Trust, Inc. PO Box 414 · Limerick ME 04048 · 207-637-3510 · www.FSHT.org Caring for land and a way of life in Southern Maine |
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Trust ends sale of dragonfly nymphs Anytime humans try to control nature, there can be unintended consequences. Recently some biologists have raised the concern that by transporting dragonfly and damselfly nymphs from one location to another, we might interfere with local natural populations.
The Trust decided to discontinue the selling of dragonfly and damselfly nymphs after 2006. We hope our dragonfly customers will continue to support our conservation work in other ways. The Trust made this decision reluctantly, because there are increasing health risks from mosquitoes and because using a natural biological enemy of mosquitoes seems greatly preferable to widespread insecticide spraying, which can have serious effects on human health as well as on other life in our environment. We liked selling dragonfly nymphs because it put us in touch with so many of you in the community, and it was a good fund-raising activity. The Trust welcomes any suggestions for another activity that can achieve these results. And what can you do about mosquitoes? The Maine Department of Health and Human Services website gives this advice:
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Some interesting facts about dragonflies:
What can fly 35 MPH, hover, and even fly backwards, all while looking for tasty mosquitoes to eat? The answer may be flying around you right now. Each year for nine years the Trust sold dragonfly nymphs in order to promote an environmentally safe way to control insect pests as well as to raise money for the Sawyer Mountain Highlands project. Thanks partially to these dragonfly sales, the Trust has purchased approximately 1400 acres in the Sawyer Mountain area of Limington and Limerick. This land has been acquired for public use for such traditional activities as hiking, hunting, snowmobiling, and educational programs.
The nymphs are either dragonflies or damselflies. Dragonflies can fly faster and are sometimes called darning needles. They hold their wings out horizontally when resting. Damselflies are more slender, fly more leisurely along the banks of ponds and streams, and hold their wings vertically over their backs when resting.
The dragonfly and damselfly nymphs live in the water eating mosquito larvae (and any other insects smaller than themselves) until they are ready to cast off their skins and emerge as adult dragonflies and damselflies. The adult phase can last weeks or months while the fascinating insects eat adult mosquitoes and other insect pests. They also spend this time laying eggs for the next generation. Not only are the dragonflies and damselflies useful in insect control, they are beautiful to look at! Both dragonflies and damselflies spend their winters in nymph form in the mud at the bottom of lakes and ponds. Dragonflies can spend one to four years in the nymph stage while some species of damselflies can have multiple broods in a single year.
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