[Skynet]

The mankind has many species wiped out. Should we wipe out mosquitoes who transmit many deseases like malaria, zika... ?

Would the ecosystems be harmed???

I think this useless and harmfull insects should be wiped out!

[late]

The mankind has many species wiped out. Should we wipe out mosquitoes who transmit many diseases like malaria, zika... ?

Would the ecosystems be harmed???

I think this useless and harmfull insects should be wiped out!

You need a link to an article that talks about this. Extinction seems unlikely..

[Pants-of-dog]

Mosquitoes are the leasing cause of malaria.

Malaria seems to be one significant factor slowing tropical deforestation, since the mosquitoes who formerly attacked arboreal animals attack loggers instead, when the trees are cut down.

So, maybe not?

[Godstud]

Most mosquitoes are actually pollinators. I can see it being very bad, and nigh impossible, to eradicate them.

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/blogs/na ... ed-insect/

[AFAIK]

There are over 600 different species of mosquito and only a handful of them bite humans. Eliminating them entirely would be very difficult but doing so may make more space for the pollinators who sustain themselves with plant matter.

[Godstud]

All species have a place in ecosystems and if one is eradicated, then another takes its place, or the ecosystem suffers.

Mosquitoes are food for a great many animals, birds, and other insects. Saying mosquitoes are useless shows a lot of ignorance about mosquitoes and their place in the food chain.

[Skynet]

OK no pollinators, but the bloodthirsty one's should be erased from face of earth.

[Rich]

What about butterflies? In particular Australian butterflies. I have heard many times from the scientists that the flapping of a butterfly's wings in Australia today could cause a horrendous, life threatening and destructive storm in Britain tomorrow.

[JohnRawls]

The mankind has many species wiped out. Should we wipe out mosquitoes who transmit many deseases like malaria, zika... ?

Would the ecosystems be harmed???

I think this useless and harmfull insects should be wiped out!

Another megaproject idea like those DAMs to block of the med and the channel for more land. The problem with those ideas is that they are so grand so they have a lot of externalities and damage that they will cause. It is hard to predict all of them. Wiping out mosquitos will probably cause more problems than not wiping them out. Yeah, we get it, they kill people and spread diseases. Mao tried to kill all sparrows because they ate grain seeds but when people actually tried it then they found out Sparrows also kill insects that destroy crops which caused a famine.

[Skynet]

What about butterflies? In particular Australian butterflies. I have heard many times from the scientists that the flapping of a butterfly's wings in Australia today could cause a horrendous, life threatening and destructive storm in Britain tomorrow.

This theory is false:

Even so, as with most popularized science metaphors, it's also an idea that has become rather ... embellished. Can the flapping of an itty-bitty butterfly's wings really cause a hurricane? The answer, it turns out, is no.

https://www.treehugger.com/can-butterfl ... %20is%20no.

Mosquitoes who suck blood are danger, especially in tropical areas, there is methode to fight them:

A biotech firm funded by Bill Gates has released 150,000 genetically modified mosquitoes in the US to curb mosquito breeding and gain control over the spreading of diseases like dengue and malaria.



Oxitec, a firm based in Abingdon, UK has already tested these mosquitoes in Brazil, Malaysia, Panama and the Cayman Islands but hadn’t received regulatory approval for the US, but it has finally received it now.

The mosquito species in question is the Aedes aegypti that comprise four percent of the mosquito population in the Keys -- a chain of tropical islands in the southernmost tip of Florida. However, these are responsible for all mosquito-borne disease in the region.

How do these mosquitoes work?
According to the study, researchers have bioengineered male Aedes aegypti mosquitoes to mate with the wild female population (females are known to bite their prey and cause dengue/malaria). The genetically engineered males carry a gene that passes to their offspring and kills female progeny in early larval stages.

The male child won’t die but they’ll continue to possess the gene that will pass on to future generations. With the death of female mosquitoes, the Aedes aegypti population is expected to drop considerably.

The first batch of males is expected to emerge during the first two weeks of May. Around 12,000 males will be released from the boxes each week over the next 12 weeks. In a second phase scheduled for later this year, Oxitec expects nearly 20 million mosquitoes to emerge over a period of about 16 weeks.



How do they track them?
To monitor the progress of the trial, researchers will make use of capture devices to trap mosquitoes for the study. Researchers have also added a fluorescent marker gene in the mosquitoes that make them glow when exposed to a particular colour of light.

Oxitec plans to present the results to the US Environmental Protection Agency -- the agency that permitted this trial. This data will help EPA understand if Oxitech’s approach can be extended to other mosquito-prone areas of the nation.

https://www.indiatimes.com/technology/n ... 39802.html

[Godstud]

Mosquitoes who suck blood are danger, especially in tropical areas, there is methode to fight them:

I live in an area with malaria, as I live on the Mekong river. You know another method of fighting mosquitoes? Repellent. Covering up. Mosquito netting. These things work.

[skinster]

I support the elimination of mosquitos.

Wasps too, while I'm here.

Bees can stay tho.

[Pants-of-dog]

Wasps are important pollinators.

Having said that, avoiding stings is best. So, I built a series of bird houses where the wasps like to build their nests, hoping an abundance of predators would prevent their return.

WASPs, on the other hand, are far less necessary to the ecology of our food chains.

[skinster]

I thought bees were the lovely pollinators and wasps were savage little bastards that attack people for often, no reason.

[Potemkin]

I thought bees were the lovely pollinators and wasps were savage little bastards that attack people for often, no reason. :?:

You thought correctly, @skinster. Some bees have colonised a birdhouse in our garden. We leave them alone, and they leave us alone. They keep an eye on us, of course - if we sit near the hive, one of them will hover nearby, eyeballing us, just in case we try anything. We have an armed truce thing going on. Lol.

Fun fact: ants are descended from wasps.

[skinster]

You thought correctly, @skinster.

YESSSS! I WAS RIGHT!! DEATH TO THE WASPS!!

Some bees have colonised a birdhouse in our garden. We leave them alone, and they leave us alone. They keep an eye on us, of course - if we sit near the hive, one of them will hover nearby, eyeballing us, just in case we try anything. We have an armed truce thing going on. Lol.

Happy to hear you don't hurt those little furry freaks.

Fun fact: ants are descended from wasps.

I like ants too.

[Potemkin]

YESSSS! I WAS RIGHT!! DEATH TO THE WASPS!!



Happy to hear you don't hurt those little furry freaks.

Bees are cool. I’m pretty sure they wear tiny little sunglasses and wear little leather jackets and go “heyyyy” just like the Fonz.

I like ants too.

They’re wasps in disguise, @skinster.

[skinster]

Bees are cool. I’m pretty sure they wear tiny little sunglasses and wear little leather jackets and go “heyyyy” just like the Fonz.

They’re wasps in disguise, @skinster.

This is shocking. I have spent some of my lifetime avoiding stepping on the little ones we have in the U.K. I have always had a soft spot for them too but now, I feel conflicted.

[MistyTiger]

Some chemicals that kill mosquitoes can actually be harmful to other species like humans and other wild life and vegetation. So you think you want to spread chemicals to kill one pest, you could inadvertently be harming many other living creatures too.

People love to kill weeds using those sprays. But those sprays also kill worms and other animals who live in the grass or pass through the yard. The chemical can also cause allergic reactions in humans. I remember sitting on the grass years ago and later developing a rash on my arms. At my home, there are no chemicals in the grass.

[Godstud]

People who usually call for the eradication of a species don't know the impact this will have on the ecosystem, or even consider it. You could be taking away a food source for an absolutely necessary species, or pollinators for certain plant species.