Should we wipe mosquitoes off the face of the Earth?

[Deleted]

Source: https://www.theguardian.com/global/2...e-of-the-earth

We have the technology...

In the entire animal kingdom, the mosquito occupies a special place as receptacle for our hatred and disgust. Even the great and generous EO Wilson, author of the touchstone argument for preserving biodiversity, The Creation: An Appeal to Save Life on Earth, makes an exception for anopheles gambiae, which spreads malaria in Africa. “Keep their DNA for future research,” he writes, “and let them go.”

When Wilson thus hardens his heart, he speaks for us all. Where we revere and anthropomorphise such brutal predators as sharks, tigers and bears, we view these tiny ectoparasites as worthless, an evolutionary accident with no redeeming or adorable characteristics. No one ever had a cuddly mosquito. Thanks to malaria, they have probably helped to kill more than half of all humans ever to have lived. Today, according to the Gates foundation, the diseases they carry kill about 725,000 people a year, 600,000 of them victims of malaria. They are, as such, the only creature responsible for the deaths of more humans than humans themselves; we only manage to kill about 475,000 a year. This deadly work is carried out all over the planet: mosquitoes are found on every continent except Antarctica. And now there is Zika, which can lead to microcephaly and its associated physical deformities in unborn children, and for which there is no vaccine. This new horror has prompted fresh attention to the vexed question of how to defeat them. And that consideration leads to an unsentimental thought that we would entertain about no other creature: can’t we wipe them off the face of the Earth?

In reality, as Lindsay and Ranson are quick to point out, the total extinction of all mosquito species would be as senseless as it would be impossible. Of the 3,000 varieties on the planet, only 200 or so bite us; only Aedes aegypti, and perhaps the more common Culex quinquefasciatus, are thought to carry Zika. Besides, as Jules Pretty, professor of environment and society at the University of Essex, points out: “In lots of environments, especially the Arctic north, where their abundance is utterly dispiriting, they are a vital source of food for animals higher up the food chain.” A total mosquito apocalypse would be a catastrophe.

But what about a narrower specicide, wiping out Aedes aegypti, and dealing a devastating blow to Zika, dengue fever and chikungunya alike? Well, that might be much more desirable – and much more achievable. “We’ve got really good new weapons,” says Dr Jo Lines, reader of malaria control and vector biology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. “There are extinction options. It wouldn’t be easy, but we shouldn’t forget about it.”

For Lines, there is a more pressing case for the eradication of aegypti, as a carrier of dengue fever, than any other species of mosquito. “There is no visible end to this except a war against aegypti,” he says. “Otherwise this is going to go on for a thousand years.” He points out that because aegypti are thoroughly adapted to a man-made environment, unlike the anopheles variety that carry malaria, they will only become more prevalent as the human population and its accompanying urban sprawl grow. “The other things we’ll build out. West Nile, malaria … but this is not going to fade away. These things are like rats and pigeons. We give them their home and food.”

[Celista]

Aren't they necessary for our ecosystem? I can't imagine that wiping out mosquitos would have any sort of positive effect...if I'm wrong then I'm totally down for exterminating the shit out of them.

[MatthewOU2015]

Yes! Tired of getting bit by those little shits.

[Osmeric]

Aren't they necessary for our ecosystem?

No, they aren't.

I can't imagine that wiping out mosquitos would have any sort of positive effect...

You mean, aside from preventing untold millions of premature human deaths.

[Shadowferal]

Any critter that survives by sucking human blood doesn't really fill an ecological niche.

They can go the way of the dodo and humanity would be better off.

[Queen of Hamsters]

As harsh as it may sound, I'm against wiping out entire species of animals for the sake of ONE species that is already destroying the planet.

[spinner981]

Someone call Pleakley.

As harsh as it may sound, I'm against wiping out entire species of animals for the sake of ONE species that is already destroying the planet.

Sounds like a combination of both a misunderstanding of the purpose of natural selection and a self-righteous zeal for so called climate change as if we are approaching some sort of doomsday.

[Osmeric]

As harsh as it may sound, I'm against wiping out entire species of animals for the sake of ONE species that is already destroying the planet.

My position is that anyone who thinks humans are a net negative should address that problem by starting with themselves.

[Nilinor]

Remember too, only female mosquitoes bite, males feed on nectar of flowers. Making them a very important pollination source. Wiping them out would cause a huge amount of environmental issues.

[Independent voter]

*snippy snip*

Make it so!

Infracted - minor spam

[Queen of Hamsters]

Also, http://www.mosquitoreviews.com/mosqu...ecosystem.html

It's not as easy as pressing a button. Thankfully, smarter people than MMO-C posters, are the one making decisions and checking the facts before taking action.

[Pickynerd]

As long as we can bundle in Ticks with this extermination, I'm down.

[sircaw]

We are killing everything else on the planet so why not add the mossy to that list.

[Shadowferal]

As long as we can bundle in Ticks with this extermination, I'm down.

Anything that sucks human blood...Ticks, fleas, bed bugs (or as referred to as the monster under the bed...and in the bed...and all over), skeeters...

[Mormolyce]

No, they aren't.

Of course they are, if they were wiped out do you know how many species of mosquito-borne virus would become endangered?

Also they're an important factor in curbing the growth of species such as homo sapiens, who if left to breed unchecked might threaten countless other species.





https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_overpopulation

[WskyDK]

No. They're a foodstuff for tons of other species.
Eliminating them would have wide reaching consequences

[Aeula]

Wipe them out before they evolve.

[Queen of Hamsters]

My position is that anyone who thinks humans are a net negative should address that problem by starting with themselves.

So basically, telling me to kill myself because I'm not for the extinction of entire species of creatures? That's a bit harsh, and a funny way of being a humanitarian I must say...

[Pickynerd]

No. They're a foodstuff for tons of other species.
Eliminating them would have wide reaching consequences

Okay so just Ticks, I'm cool with that.

[sarahtasher]

While killing mosquitoes might be desirable, killing only mosquitoes and not vital species for pollenization (like bees) is going to be hard.

One cheap, efficient and proven approach however is to avoid stagnant water pools.