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Command+F "mosquito" sigh It's wild how this news is basically a non-story, people don't care about "oops we accidentally did a bunch of extinctions" ...but
by mullingitover 3y ago
Command+F "mosquito"
sigh
It's wild how this news is basically a non-story, people don't care about "oops we accidentally did a bunch of extinctions"
...but people will riot if you launch a project to intentionally wipe out the single most deadly insect species in the history of humanity (and one that's not even a keystone species!).
- xvilka 3y agoMosquito while being biggest killer of all, still has an important role in a food chain as a water predator in its larvae phase.
- nerpderp82 3y agoThey also move nutrients down the foodchain. Just because we don't like them doesn't mean they don't serve an important purpose in the web of life.
- JoshTriplett 3y agoYes, it would have an impact on the ecosystem. We could study the potential impact, and decide whether it was more or less of a concern than the number of lives lost to mosquito-borne diseases.
- temp0826 3y agoI remember reading that some types are also pollinators, and maybe even the sole pollinators for some particular plants.
- mullingitover 3y agoDemonstrating my point - people erroneously line up to defend them. The species that carry disease actually do not have an important role in the food chain. They are not at all a keystone species. In most of the places where they cause widespread misery and death they're not even a native species, they're invasive.
- titzer 3y agoIt's not that they carry diseases, though that's not great for species that get those diseases, it's that this particular species of mosquito (Aedes aegypti) is really just a pest we bring with us. They aren't native to most places and pretty much follow us around and prey on us, piggy backing on the most invasive species of all.