8 August 06

Chasing Dragonflies

Variegated meadowhawk sketch Tonight they are spraying mosquitoes in Davis and Woodland to try and halt the spread of West Nile virus. I went out today with some colleagues to try and catch dragonflies, butterflies, and spiders to put in target spraying areas and outside them as a control. It was different than my normal day: running around after insects. They are delicate yet feisty, the dragonflies: one seemed to get a good look at me while I was waving a net around and left….

[Postscript, Wednesday, 9 August, 1:30 pm: All the dragonflies, all the spiders, and all but two of the sulfur butterflies flew off this morning in apparent good health. The butterflies were victims of the City’s exuberant watering system.

It also looks as though about 75% of the resident mosquitoes were killed from trap evidence.

A second spraying is supposed to happen tonight. This time, we’ll be seeing how honeybees fare.]

Posted by at 05:42 PM in Nature and Place | Link |
  1. My hat’s off to you if/because you actually managed to catch dragonflies. They seem to see very very well, in all directions at once.

    Lots of dragonflies everywhere I’ve been in Berkeley this past week, often in small loose flocks. I wonder what’s up with that. Whatever, I’m pleased.
    — Ron Sullivan    9. August 2006, 07:40    Link
  2. Perhaps that dragonfly who escaped your net worried which target group she was destined for. Hope all critters big and small made it through the evening of spraying…
    — Chris    9. August 2006, 10:32    Link
  3. Ron: Yes, it was hard, and I was quite pleased to have caught so many.

    Chris, no word yet. All the control critters made it through the night. Haven’t seen the other team: they are probably being grilled by the media as I write this…
    — Pica    9. August 2006, 11:04    Link
  4. Canoeing on the Sudbury River last weekend we saw lots of beautiful dragonflies. Glad you hear yours escaped in good health. Good luck to the honeybees, too.
    — leslee    12. August 2006, 11:06    Link

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