It is known that each and every one of the living organisms that make up Nature, from the smallest insect to the largest mammals, play a specific role in the great ecological mechanism that is the planet. And yet, it’s easy to wonder what role mosquitoes play, given their infamous and well-known nuisances (and even dangers) to humans. doAre mosquitoes really useful for something??
The downside of mosquitoes is well known. To get started, They are a vector of transmission of many diseases.. Every year thousands of people infected by dengue, malaria, yellow fever, encephalitis, West Nile virus and other diseases that the mosquito is a carrier of die on the planet.
In some parts of the world, these insects generate huge swarms that surround wild animals, such as Alaskan caribou, slowly suffocating and killing them.
Apart from this, the clouds of mosquitoes in humid areas in which there are human populations are especially annoying and require expensive treatments to eradicate them, without damaging the rest of the biodiversity at the same time.
They serve as food for other species… to a certain extent
But, at the same time, these species of Diptera fulfill a fundamental ecological mission: that of feeding species that live in different ecosystems. In the Arctic, for example, they form a compact biomass that floats on the tundra and serves as food for numerous species of migratory birds.
Some scientists believe that the eradication of mosquitoes in these areas would cause a reduction in the number of migratory birds that come there in search of food.
In addition, there are many species of fish, spiders, frogs, salamanders, turtles, dragonflies or lizards that eat their larvae, easy to catch. The diet of all these animals would be seriously affected, according to these scientists.
However, there is a general consensus, as stated by Winifred Frick, a biologist specializing in chiroptera from the University of California-Santa Cruz, that, while mosquitoes are necessary for many species, they are not really essential. In other words, a hypothetical total disappearance of these dipterans on Earth would not necessarily have devastating consequences on the species that feed on them.
In the case of bats, Frick states that “there is no species of bat specialized specifically for mosquitoes & rdquor ;. In fact, almost all species of these flying mammals are generalist predators, that is, they eat anything they can catch, such as mosquitoes, beetles, and many other insects.
In the case of other species that feed on them, the possible total eradication of mosquitoes has not been studied as much as in the case of bats, but another scientist from the same university, Marm Kilpatrick, an ecologist quoted by National Geographic, affirms have “the impression” that the average person would not notice too much the impact of such an eventuality.
In short, most ecologists consider that the risk of freeing humanity from the damage caused by mosquitoes is acceptable for ecosystems. Each species would change its diet, since these insects are neither the only nor, often, the best possible food source.
Positive consequences for global health
But assuming once again that this selective extinction did occur, there would be (positive) consequences for human health.
The World Health Organization (WHO) reminds that the number of people who die each year from malaria is 438,000according to data referring to 2015.
Similarly, the mosquito species that have been the protagonists of the latest Zika outbreaks are also the cause of the dengue virus (with 22,000 deaths per year) and yellow fever (with 30,000 deaths per year).
In addition, the human being is not the only species that is the victim of diseases transmitted by mosquitoes, as there are many others in the animal kingdom that suffer the same consequences.