We are excited that you stopped by! The goal of this blog is to educate you on all things mosquito science.  Amy Anguiano (Biologist) and Loren Cohen (Biology Assistant) will be sharing with you their knowledge and love of all things entomology. Please share what you learn with family and friends.

High Salinity Predators

Loren Cohen, Assistant Biologist

July 1, 2026

South Walton County has a diverse selection of aquatic habitats, one of the main habitats that make this area special are the Salt Marshes. Salt marshes are characterized by their high salinity waters that house many unique organisms, including North America’s only saltwater dragonfly. While most dragonflies prefer freshwater ponds and lakes, the Seaside Dragonlet has carved out its own salty niche in the marsh. The Seaside Dragonlet (Erythrodiplax Berenice) is a dragonfly that almost exclusively lives in salt marshes. Its range stretches along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts, from Canada all the way to Mexico. Dragonflies, like mosquitoes, have an aquatic immature stage. However, unlike mosquitoes, Dragonflies go through incomplete metamorphosis (meaning they do not have a larval stage, they go from egg to nymph/naiad to adult). Dragonfly nymphs are fierce predators feeding on many other aquatic macroinvertebrates.  Nymphs have a hinged lower jaw called a labial mask that can shoot forward in a split second to grab unsuspecting prey, pulling it towards their mouth. If you've ever seen the creature from the movie Alien launch its inner jaws, you've got a pretty good idea of what a dragonfly nymph looks like at feeding time!

Check out this video of a dragonfly nymph feeding: https://www.pbs.org/video/a-baby-dragonflys-mouth-will-give-you-nightmares-drr85d/.

Dragonfly nymphs are natural predators that keep the mosquito population down before the adults emerge and start taking blood meals. In South Walton County's salt marshes, the two common mosquito species are the black salt marsh mosquito (Aedes taeniorhynchus) and the eastern salt marsh mosquito (Aedes sollicitans). The Seaside Dragonlet shares these marshes with them and is one of their natural predators. So, the next time you walk through a salt marsh, remember that beneath the water's surface, a miniature battle is taking place. Tiny dragonfly nymphs are patrolling the marsh like underwater superheroes, helping control mosquitoes and keeping this unique ecosystem in balance. 

FUN FACT: Seaside Dragonlets are known for being extremely lazy adults. In a study, it was found they spend most of their time perched instead of flying.

 

About Seaside Dragonlet - Maryland Biodiversity Project. (2018). Retrieved June 24, 2026, from Maryland Biodiversity Project website: https://www.marylandbiodiversity.com/species/721

Wilson, W. H. (2008). The Behavior of the Seaside Dragonlet, Erythrodiplax berenice (Odonata: Libellulidae), in a Maine Salt Marsh. Northeastern Naturalist, 15(3), 465–468. https://doi.org/10.1656/1092-6194-15.3.465