gambusia affinis

and speaking of pests...

any source of standing water [as with the aforementioned rain barrels for my garden] is a potential breeding ground for mosquitos. uck! gotta get rid of the lil' pesky guys; they pose a real threat for spreading west nile virus. but i don't want to use any harmful chemicals so close to an integral part of my food source. so what's an eco-girl to do?

enter, gambusia affinis. aka, the mosquito fish. in talking with a neighbor today, i learned that letting loose some goldfish or mosquito fish [a species of freshwater fish obtainable through your local vector-control agent], you can keep the larvae under from ever developing into the winged beasts we *so* love to hate.

each fish eats up to 300 mosquito larvae/day and requires little to no feeding!