Should we wipe mosquitoes off the face of the Earth?

[matt4pack]

I gotta say, I absolutely despise bugs and kill them whenever I see them except for spiders. You might wonder why, and the answer is simple, spiders eat mosquitoes, and as the saying goes, the enemy of my enemy is my friend, so I make sure not to kill any spiders for the sake of them killing mosquitoes.

Good job. I'm sure you're really making a difference. They're probably be extinct in no time with that kind of effort.

[Techno-Druid]

Couldn't we just simply modify the females to have a nectar-only diet like the males do? Only the females consume blood, all male mosquitoes are 100% nevtarivore. That may actually do more in helping us pollinate plants.

[Osmeric]

Couldn't we just simply modify the females to have a nectar-only diet like the males do?

Not enough protein in nectar to make eggs, I think.

[Rudkobing]

No. They serve a purpose.

[Yvaelle]

No, they aren't.

Technically, they are - if we take a step back and don't view humanity as being special. Mosquitoes, as the top killers of homo sapiens - are excellent at keeping the hairless apes in check from overpopulation.

So ecologically, if anything - mosquitoes aren't doing well enough - because our population is still exploding. Granted, on behalf of homo sapiens - fuck 'em, kill them all.

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

Really, they're just doing their job.

[Crissi]

yeah, diseases are a major way in which the human population in developing areas is kept in check. I'm all for saving lives, but we would need to also educate the populace , lower poverty, and encourage birth control so that the population doesn't explode.

[Kapadons]

Can't we just ship cases of deet laced bug spray to Africa ? That shit works like a champ in south Texas for keeping skeeters off you. Instead of torches give em citronella candles. Boom- we save people's lives and don't wipe out mosquitos.

[Osmeric]

Technically, they are - if we take a step back and don't view humanity as being special. Mosquitoes, as the top killers of homo sapiens - are excellent at keeping the hairless apes in check from overpopulation.

Mosquitoes are doing something that, if it were done by humans, would be called genocide.

And you think this is a good thing?

[Tempguy]

I see no benefit at all to having them exist.

Even animals that eat them survive well without them. They serve no purpose except when they get stuck in Amber and aliens want to clone a human in the year 20016

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No. They serve a purpose.

What purpose is that?

[Crissi]

Mosquitoes are doing something that, if it were done by humans, would be called genocide.

And you think this is a good thing?

Humans have been doing that to other species as well (Bison being prime examples of being almost wiped out). Nature sucks sometimes.

[Osmeric]

No. They serve a purpose.

We got rid of teleological explanations in nature back in the 1800s.

Mosquitoes don't serve a purpose, because species don't HAVE purposes.

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Really, they're just doing their job.

This explanation isn't even wrong. Species don't have jobs.

[Wyrt]

How would we kill just mosquito without harming other animals? Killing off bees on accident would be disastrous.

What about animals that eat mosquitos and mosquito larva like dragonflies? Would they still have enough food to eat? Would they have to start preying on other animals in order to survive or would they die out themselves?

Removing animals from an ecosystem is not easy and comes with potentially disastrous consequences.

[Deleted]

No wait, you'd rather let Africans or Asians to die to keep our numbers in check. Right?

To be fair, and i'm NOT saying we should kill them or anything, Asia and Africa together constitute 76% of the world population, so IF (and thats a big if) somehow a culling is being enforced it would be most logical to start from Asia and then go to Africa.

Disclaimer: I do not believe in population reduction but in stellar expansion.

OT Mosquitoes are annoying but essential to the planet, and by extension to humans. Males go for flowers doing the same bees do, they mate with female bloodsuckers to make more males to fertilize(not sure if its the correct word) plants to mate again and make more babies etc.

[Uzkin]

No. We should take Natural Diversity as an intrinsic value. Besides, wiping out an entire species would create a dangerous precedent. In the future when AIs (or space aliens, or time/dimensional travelers...) have become the most advanced and powerful "species" on Earth it'd be nice if they didn't have the excuse "hey stop whining, you guys did the same thing with the mosquitos" to fall back on.

[Purpleisbetter]

Again, mosquitos have no purpose or serve no roles when we talk about cities.

Concrete cannot make a use of pollination, hence exterminate the bi*es!

[Balir]

DDT - We had the chance, but all the goodie two shoes tree hugging hippies belly ached loud enough for someone to notice.

[Shadowferal]

DDT - We had the chance, but all the goodie two shoes tree hugging hippies belly ached loud enough for someone to notice.

The likely extinction of the American Bald Eagle among other birds of prey might have had something to do with that.

[Forogil]

How would we kill just mosquito without harming other animals? Killing off bees on accident would be disastrous.

Using gene drive as suggested by others seems pretty specific - to make them resistant to Zika/malaria or unable to lay eggs:
http://www.nature.com/news/gene-driv...alaria-1.18858

What about animals that eat mosquitos and mosquito larva like dragonflies? Would they still have enough food to eat? Would they have to start preying on other animals in order to survive or would they die out themselves?

Almost all are already eating other animals as well as mosquitoes, and wouldn't decrease dramatically. Should we also forbid mosquito nets and swatting them because they prevent the mosquitoes from feeding on humans - which means less food for the predators?

[Simulacrum]

Not only should we wipe mosquitoes off the face of the earth, but we should also wipe away anyone who thinks doing so is a bad idea.

[Forogil]

No. We should take Natural Diversity as an intrinsic value. Besides, wiping out an entire species would create a dangerous precedent. In the future when AIs (or space aliens, or time/dimensional travelers...) have become the most advanced and powerful "species" on Earth it'd be nice if they didn't have the excuse "hey stop whining, you guys did the same thing with the mosquitos" to fall back on.

We have already did the same thing to a number of other species; and we are right now trying to eradicate polio-virus.