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> Aedes aegypti is not even native to South America- it's African. So eliminating it from the New World can't do that much damage given that the ecosystem got a
by jamescostian 10y ago
> Aedes aegypti is not even native to South America- it's African. So eliminating it from the New World can't do that much damage given that the ecosystem got along fine before it arrived.
This logic may have been applicable way back when the first few Aedes aegypti made their way to the New World, but at this point, so much has changed in our New World, and we don't really know all the ecological changes that Aedes aegypti may have already caused. Perhaps, they have become an integral part of our society.
- roywiggins 10y agoI'm aware of that possibility, but their main niche seems to be sucking human blood and passing diseases around. Other mosquitos feed on other animals and plants, but A. aegypti really loves to eat people.
- duaneb 10y ago> Perhaps, they have become an integral part of our society. Perhaps, but I don't believe anyone has demonstrated that mosquitoes have this crucial in impact to he health of the ecosystem. In fact, the aforementioned Nature article explicitly argues against that idea, though obviously it's only a sample size of 1.
- kapitza 10y agoSome of them, I assume, are good mosquitoes. But who's doing the biting? Somebody's doing the biting! We need to build a net. They have to go back!