Dragonfly larvae in the pond: what do dragonflies eat?

If dragonflies have used the pond in the garden to lay their eggs, that is an advantage on the one hand. Because the predatory insects use, for example, the larvae of other insects as prey. However, their diet consists not only of pests, but can also include beneficial insects. Nevertheless, every garden owner should be happy about dragonfly larvae in the garden pond and set up the water body appropriately.

Nutrition in the larval stage

Mosquito larvae are the main food of dragonfly larvae. Therefore dragonflies are extremely useful even in the larval stage. You can prevent a real mosquito plague in the garden and should be welcomed in your own green. In addition to the mosquito larvae, the diet of the dragonflies in the larval stage also consists of other insects and other animals. These are:

• smaller fish
• Insects that fell into the water
• tadpoles
• larvae of other insects
• water fleas
• water strider

The larvae of dragonflies can be harmful to fish and tadpoles in particular. However, this only affects the larvae of large species, and even then they only become a potential threat when they are close to the adult – i.e. mature – stage. Even then, however, the preferred food is the mosquito larvae, so there is no need to expect that other beneficial insects will be reduced too much. There is rarely a large number of dragonfly larvae in a pond, so there is no need to worry.

hunting behavior

The larvae of the dragonflies lie in wait for their prey and seize it with the so-called trapping mask. The catch mask is a kind of extended lower lip. Normally, this cannot be seen because it is folded in when it is not in use. She can only be seen when she is eating. Since the larvae are lurking hunters, they need the right environment in the garden pond. The design of the pond therefore plays a major role.

Food of adult dragonflies

Dragonflies are predatory. That means they eat other insects. These include, for example:

• mosquitoes
• gnats
• Fly
• butterfly
• other dragonflies

Eating other dragonflies may seem strange at first from a human perspective. However, it brings some benefits to the dragonflies. On the one hand, this is a simple form of food source. Since the insects, which are harmless to humans, know the behavior of their fellow insects, hunting is easier. So you have to expend less energy to feed yourself. On the other hand, the dragonflies thereby reduce their competition. As a result, they create more favorable conditions for themselves, since there are fewer predators - and at the same time they find more prey.

What is environmentally beneficial about the predatory behavior of adult dragonflies and their larvae, however, is that on the one hand a balance is struck. As long as the dragonflies find enough mosquitoes, flies and mosquitoes, for example, they will not attack their own kind. This prevents plagues and the pests do not die out, but their numbers are reduced. As a result, further and possibly more dangerous control measures can be dispensed with. At the same time, the dragonflies also prevent their own numbers from rising to unfavorable heights. Decimating other insects is also controlled and a balance can be established.

Reproduction and oviposition

Depending on the species, adult dragonflies have different ways of reproducing or laying eggs. Basically, there are only two different variants.

Laying eggs on the water surface

The female dragonfly lays the fertilized eggs directly above the water surface. The preferred storage place is the stems and leaves of riparian or aquatic plants. Another variation is that the dragonflies drop the eggs. The eggs sink into the pond and remain on the bottom until the larvae hatch.

Laying eggs under water

In some cases, the female or both females and males dive under water and lay their eggs here. Plants are the preferred places to put them.

Learn more about pond animals