What would occur if all of the mosquitoes on this planet disappeared?

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What would occur if all of the mosquitoes on this planet disappeared? (Niko, 4, Diani in Kenya)

Most individuals on this planet completely hate mosquitoes. Personally, I don’t thoughts them – they don’t actually chew me, so they don’t trouble me that a lot. That’s not the case for most individuals, who can’t stand the itchy bites and annoying noise mosquitoes make.

Due to the work I do on malaria, I even spend my time taking good care of them and conserving them alive so my colleagues and I can analysis them. That is critical, necessary work as a result of mosquitoes are extra than simply annoying: they’re essentially the most harmful animals on this planet. No different animals are liable for extra folks’s deaths – mosquitoes unfold a variety of lethal illnesses. So, wouldn’t it not be higher for the world if all these horrible animals simply disappeared?

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What are mosquitoes?

To have the ability to begin answering the query, we have to perceive what mosquitoes are. Mosquitoes are literally a big group of bugs. They’re flies, which implies the adults look fully completely different to child mosquitoes, referred to as larvae. The adults even have solely two wings, in contrast to bees and wasps which have 4. There are a lot of various kinds of biting flies. All of them must take blood from animals – together with people – to have the ability to lay eggs.

Although there are various biting flies, resembling horseflies and tsetse flies, mosquitoes are by far the most typical and widespread.

What we name mosquitoes are literally 3,500 various kinds of bugs, and so they all behave in another way. Most are energetic at night time, however some are energetic throughout the day. Folks might not realise it, however solely feminine mosquitoes chew us, as a result of they want our blood to allow them to lay eggs. Male mosquitoes drink nectar – a sugary juice made by crops – to outlive.

If a feminine mosquito takes blood from somebody who’s contaminated with sure kinds of virus or with a parasitic illness resembling malaria, she will be able to unfold the illness to somebody she bites later. Of all these mosquito species, solely the females of about 40 varieties are actually harmful as a result of they will go on illnesses that make folks sick.

So, of all of the mosquitoes on this planet, there are only a few which can be actually harmful. The issue is that these few kinds of mosquitoes unfold many harmful illnesses – like malaria. Greater than 200 million folks, most of them right here in Africa the place you and I dwell, get the illness yearly. If solely the mosquitoes that precipitated malaria disappeared, greater than 500,000 lives can be saved per yr, most of them youngsters who’re youthful than 5.

If simply these malaria-spreading mosquitoes disappeared, the world can be a lot more healthy.

It could sound like it will be higher for us all if mosquitoes disappeared. However that’s not the case, as a result of mosquitoes serve an necessary objective.

Meals for animals

Totally different sorts of animals, together with people, type what we name ecosystems: all of us want one another, in numerous methods, to outlive. And even mosquitoes are wanted in ecosystems.

There are billions of mosquitoes. That’s plenty of bugs that could possibly be one other animal’s supper. Now, we have no idea of any animal that solely eats mosquitoes, however there are many mosquitoes and they’re simple to hunt, so many animals eat them. Child mosquitoes dwell in water and are the favorite meals of the mosquito fish. Frogs, dragonflies, ants, spiders, geckos and bats, and another animals, additionally eat mosquitoes.

If all mosquitoes disappeared, many animals would have lots much less meals. Think about if all of the rice on this planet disappeared. No person eats solely rice, but when rice disappeared tomorrow, lots of people would have lots much less meals.

Most mosquitoes don’t chew people (they get blood from different animals) and a few kinds of mosquitoes don’t chew in any respect. Male mosquitoes may assist crops breed by pollinating, giving the crops the prospect to unfold and develop elsewhere. They don’t do it in addition to bees, however they’re positively necessary for some crops such because the Blunt-leaf orchid.

Different folks have requested the identical query you will have, Niko, and scientists suppose that eradicating each single mosquito from the world wouldn’t have a foul total impact on the setting. However none of us are certain what is going to occur to small ecosystems and whether or not these can be higher off with out mosquitoes.

There’s additionally the concern that if we removed all mosquitoes they could possibly be changed by one thing worse, like one other biting insect that may trigger extra illness or chew extra painfully.

The excellent news is that intelligent scientists are working very arduous all around the world to determine how we will cope with the mosquitoes which can be harmful for people. We might not eliminate all of the mosquitoes, however we may help shield people from those that unfold illness and make us sick.