Hi!
Great question! Without a doubt, mosquitoes are universally regarded as the most hated species in the animal kingdom. They are super annoying, leave itchy wounds all over our bodies, and buzz in our ears when are trying to sleep. They also spread all kinds of diseases including malaria, yellow fever, West Nile Virus, and Zika (and more!), which cause more deaths globally each year than homicide and war combined.
It seems we can’t live with them...but can we live without them?
Many experts point out that not all of the 3500+ varieties of mosquitoes spread diseases, or even bite people, and some actually eat varieties of mosquitoes that do people harm. In fact, out of those 3500 species of mosquitoes, only about 200 attack humans, and only 3 varieties spread diseases that kill humans. Therefore, it’s pretty clear that we don’t need to kill all of them.
So what about the ones that bite us?
This topic is still under debate. Some note that many species of aquatic wildlife eat mosquitoes as a primary food source. If mosquitoes were extinct, these creatures would either need to change their diets or risk dying off. While many species could adapt and just eat other small bugs, some like the aptly named Mosquitofish would probably become extinct. This would then cause other animal populations, such as larger fish, frogs, birds, and turtles, to struggle to survive. In addition, mosquitoes serve the role of pollinator, spreading pollen from various plants around, which also benefits the overall ecosystem. Therefore, the ripple effect of eradicating mosquitoes could be more widespread than anyone could accurately predict. Furthermore, many scientists warn that eliminating an entire species like the mosquito also poses the risk that another bug will take its place, which might be even more annoying and deadly than the mosquito.
Do we really want to deal with SUPER BUGS?
What if, instead of sucking our blood, they take whole chunks of flesh from our bodies!?
On the other hand, some scientists argue the few mosquitoes that harm humans represent such a small fraction of the overall insect population that most species would eventually adapt to their absence and there probably wouldn’t be a significant impact on the food chain. It’s like if we didn’t have cows to eat anymore. We’d still survive, I guess. I mean, the earth would probably be better off...but still, steak...burgers...Korean barbecue.
Accepting the fact that getting rid of all mosquitoes is virtually impossible, the most realistic solution is to deal with mosquito issues locally, especially when diseases are being spread. Besides manual eradication using harmful sprays and poisonous chemicals, efforts to genetically modify certain species by producing sterile females, which cannot lay eggs and eventually die off without ever reproducing (kind of sad, but not really), has successfully reduced illnesses spread by mosquitoes by more than 90% in some areas. At home, we can prevent mosquitoes from breeding and doing harm by eliminating standing water from around our houses, wearing insect repellant, and sleeping under a bed net if you are in an area with a high population of mosquitoes. You can also squish them whenever possible.
Stay safe!
Dear Letterbox
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