iN PHOTOS: Dragonflies control mosquitoes in Kamloops, Okanagan yards

While dragonflies are beautiful with brilliant colours and papery, shiny wings, the insects can also keep mosquitoes at bay for gardeners in Kamloops and the Okanagan.

Dragonflies can prey on up to 100 adult mosquitoes per day from the air, and prey on mosquito larvae in the water, Ducks Unlimited.

There are a few things you can do to attract the mosquito killers to gardens and backyards and that includes providing a water source for them like a pond or fountain and growing certain kinds of flowers and plants.

A dragonfly rests on a stick above the water at Kamloops’s Isobel Lake. SUBMITTED/ Valerie Walsh

Attractive vegetation includes black-eyed Susan, swamp milkweed, meadow sage, aster, Asiatic lily, pickerelweed, borage, bearded iris, pink muhly grass, common cattail.

The plants should be near the water source where the dragonflies can move between pollinating plants and snack on mosquitos drawn to the water.

Area photographers snapped photos of a wide variety of dragonfly species this spring that pop with vibrant colours. 

If you have photos of insects you want to share, send them to news@infonews.ca. 

Two colourful dragonflies mate in Merritt. SUBMITTED/ Loekie Vanderwal

A golden coloured dragonfly hovers over grass in Kamloops. SUBMITTED/ Valerie Walsh

This twelve-spotted skimmer was spotted in Osoyoos. SUBMITTED/ June Babish

A darner dragonfly skims along the surface of a lake near Kamloops. SUBMITTED/ Doug Giles

This dragonfly was spotted at Isobel Lake in Kamloops. SUBMITTED/ Valerie Walsh