How to Safely Kill Mosquito Larvae

[TheCatInTheWindow]

My little pond is filled with mosquito larvae and I've been reading online about how to kill them. I've read a few articles now which say to use either a drop of dish soap or oil. A drop apparently meaning just a tiny drop which will put a thin film over the pond that suffocates the mosquitos.

I have no fish or frogs but I do have a lot of birds drinking and bathing in my pond and I don't want to do anything that could harm them.

Does anyone know if putting a tiny drop of soap or oil will harm birds? Otherwise how can I kill off the mosquito larvae?

Thanks IcakethereforeIam! 😊 It was a lot of work but I'm glad I've done it. Some people were telling me I couldn't do it on my own so that was motivation for me
It would seem the black commas are mosquitoes and in the pupae stage. Hopefully there are some hungry predators around who will sort them for me.
I'm a bit of a plantaholic and I love to take cuttings. My little pond looked really beautiful a couple weeks ago when the blue ajuga and forget me nots were in bloom. I don't think I've ever seen so many bees and hover flies before! My little garden was literally abuzz for weeks!!

Unfortunately Ive had new neighbours move in next door this year with 5 cats, 3 of them young cats who hunt, she has asked me to "do something about the pond as her cats keep bringing frogs in" I suggested she use a collar with a bell or kept her cat in at night instead of asking me to control the local wildlife. I can hear her squeal in the morning when she sees them and I'm fairly sure she's killing them if they aren't dead already. Her cats spend a lot of time in my garden, leaving dead birds and bat's too. I'm hoping my frog population will pick back up next year when her cats are older and less likely to hunt.

My own cats never bought anything home dead, in fact were always very gentle and would bring things in very much alive which were carefully checked over and then released.

I love ajuga, I think it's the domestic form of the wild plant called bugle. It, and the forget me nots, are great for insects and ground cover.

@Singleandproud I heard cats bring home live prey for you because they think you're a kitten that needs to be taught to hunt!

You're both definitely inspiring me to dig my own pond. I'm ashamed to say I've only got a large plastic saucer as a bird bath. But even that brings in the wildlife. I've been putting it off because our soil is really heavy clay and full of roots.

I have rat tailed maggots in my pond. If you saw one you’d know exactly what it is! Because it looks just like a maggot with a rat’s tail. Leave the larvae as they’ll be useful food for anything that wants to live there, other little creatures. Your pond looks lovely.

what about adding a few stickle backs i would not be taking frogs or toads from other places it spreads disease theres a name for it but i cant remember

@Angelbaby1985 stickle backs wouldn’t survive, they need running water, and this little pond is really too small for fish.

depends how they have been hatched there's loads round here with no running water and there for sale everywhere so in tanks not rivers

Singleandproud Her cats are going into your garden, killing your wildlife and she wants you to do something about it? 😦

IcakethereforeIam Ajuga is lovely and spreads quickly if you want ground cover, very manageable though. Very easy to take cuttings from. Mine has a reddish purple tint to the the leaves (can't remember variety name). Lamium and creeping thyme are other ones I use that the bees love.

I would highly recommend building a pond if you can! I dug mine on my own. My soil is full of clay, rocks, roots, old pipes, broken bits of plates and toys from decades ago and an old washing line cement block that took ages to dig out. I have a bowl containing the more interesting things I dug out while building my pond and path and digging beds.
I also have a bird bath which the tiny birds use daily, but from robin size and up the birds use the pond (except the 2 pigeons, they always use the little birdbath that is smaller than they are 😂)

😊 Thank you BruisedSkies

I had to look up what a stickleback is, they have spikes? I'm not opposed to having fish but I thought my pond would be too small. I've never had fish before so I'd need to look up how to care for them. Can fish and birds live harmoniously together in a small pond?

If you have any fish, you'll have a real reduction in insects and frogs etc as they eat them so depends on what you want from a pond. I thought about adding them to mine and then decided against it.

surlier sticklebacks wont eat frogs or bigger insects have had a few in my wildlife pond for a while and the frogs are still breeding in there

I think generally it is not advised as the stickleback eat the frogspawn, more than the actual frogs. But its great you've got such biodiversity in your pond

hope so made me worried now as love seeing the baby frogs emerge