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The mosquito: a creature that won’t be missed
Eradicating the insects that spread malaria would not have the environmental impact people might expect
With malaria killing more than a million and infecting a quarter of a billion people each year, and other insect-borne diseases like dengue fever and yellow fever threatening the health of countless others, some scientists believe that efforts should be made to wipe mosquitoes from the face of the earth.
A recent report in the scientific journal Nature warns that efforts to destroy the many different species of mosquito that live on the planet could have unexpected consequences - but, perhaps surprisingly, scientists are not unduly concerned by the effects of wiping out the biting insects.
Medical entomologist Janet McAllister claims: "If there was a benefit to having them around, we would have found a way to exploit them. We haven't wanted anything from mosquitoes except for them to go away."
Experts believe the hole left behind in the eco-system would be small quickly filled by other species. "It's difficult to see what the downside would be to removal, except for collateral damage," said insect ecologist Steven Juliano.
However, there will be some consequences if mosquitoes disappear altogether. Take the caribou. Mosquitoes take up to 300ml of blood from every caribou in a herd each day and in response the herds will walk into the wind in order to escape the swarms.
Without the dreaded mozzies, the caribou would roam where they wanted, which would in turn affect the rest of the eco-system.
Mosquitoes are too small to be missed by predators such as birds and insectovore bats: they rely on larger insects for most of their diet.
But without mosquitoes, many thousands of plant species would lose pollinators. However, they do not include any crops on which humans depend.
One final word of caution: mosquitoes have been on the planet for 170 million years - 34 times longer than humans. Some scientists fear that if they were completely eradicated nature would find a way to surprise us, perhaps replacing the mosquito with something even more pernicious.
That is not going to stop those researchers who are determined that only good will come of the insect's eradication, however difficult it may be to achieve.
Biologist Olivia Judson pointed out in 2003 that the destruction of just 30 mosquito species would save a million human lives every year. ·
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Scientists could always freeze a few before hand, just in case. Nature would just adapt without mosquitoes.
Eliminating an entire species? Have we learned nothing? The arrogance on the part of these 'scientists' is astounding. Just what this poor, old earth needs, a billion more people. How about clean water, adequate food and shelter, education and small families as a goal?
They do serve a purpose. Just think how many people there would be on this planet now if they never existed. It's not right for humans to choose which creatures should die and which should live. Maybe it will save a million lives a year but won't that million instead possibly die from starvation or a lack of clean drinking water? It is, after all, the poorer countries in the world that mainly have this problem. And what's to say it won't inadvertently go wrong. Messing with nature can have disastrous consequences - African Killer Bees for example.
Every living thing has its place in nature, that's why they're here. I struggle to think what place the tapeworm, mosquito and sandfly ocuupy but when I next travel to Guyana I'll be wishing something had been done about the mosquito and sandfly as I start to scratch my legs. Best left alone, I think.
I find it almost incredible that 'scientists' in this day and age can even consider destroying an entire species. Mosquitoes are annoying - I know that; one bit me last night - but all the deaths from malaria are preventable if the rich developed world was prepared to help the developing world by providing nets, medical supplies and education. Maybe that would stimulate the world's sagging economy, too, although all the rich fools driving their million-dollar toy cars would whine that their taxes had gone up a fraction of a percent, I'm sure.
I'm sure the world might seem to be a better place to some idiots if lots of species were eliminated. We could have a nice pretty world with no spiders, wasps, snakes, rats or other 'nasty' creatures. However, I would not wish to live in such a world. Getting bit by a mozzie is a small price to pay for the privilege of living in a vast and complex ecosystem, full of surprises and wonders.
This will sound callous but the main 'benefit' of eradicating mosquitos is a million humans not dying. Won't this cause a population explosion that we could do without? Especially as most of the lives saved are in areas where large families are the norm. I think mosquitos will be replaced by starvation.