Dragonflies Could Help Elmhurst Solve Problem: Officials

ELMHURST, IL – Elmhurst is like many towns: It fogs areas with chemicals to combat mosquitoes.

But two aldermen are asking the city to consider natural methods to do the same thing.

"An example of one natural measure would be to have a focused effort on attracting dragonflies throughout the city by planting dragonfly-friendly plantings throughout the community," aldermen Michael Bram and Karen Sienko said in a memo last week.

The aldermen said dragonflies, which are predators of mosquitoes, are one way to address the issue, but they would welcome other methods.

They also said they wanted to look into the city having a mosquito abatement education program and changing its code to help with local behaviors on controlling mosquitoes.

At Monday's meeting, the City Council is set to vote on the aldermen's request to send the issue to a city committee.