Belly-up goldfish don't eat larvae.

• Author: Fitz, Don
• Position: Death of goldfish after pesticide spraying

Lewis Park is a couple of blocks from our home in University City, Missouri. On Sunday, August 25, 2002 Barbara told that when she was walking through the park, the pond was putting out a big stink. Hundreds of goldfish were floating on top of the water.

"Let's get over there and photograph it," I told her. A week or so before, a pesticide spray truck had gone down the streets. When she called city hall, they told her that U City contracted with St. Louis County for spraying against West Nile Virus (WNV). The fact sheet they sent said the County sprays Aqua-Reslin, which is 20% permethrin, 20/% piperonyl butoxide, and 60% unidentified ingredients. It warns that the spray is "extremely toxic to fish."

Goldfish, along with guppies, fathead minnows, and golden shiners, feed on mosquito larvae. Frogs, dragonflies, ladybugs, lacewings and several species of birds also eat mosquitoes. Bats can eat 1000 per night. One of the great ironies of the 2002 WNV spraying was that pesticides killed the very creatures that control mosquitoes. Those who advocated spraying displayed their complete lack of understanding of the interaction between species in an ecosystem.

A mosquito lives for about two weeks. Their predators have much longer life spans. If both are killed by spraying at the same time, mosquitoes will replenish their populations much quicker. When a mosquito's great-great-granddaughter lays her eggs eight weeks later, there...