i am under the impression that mosquitos, as an invasive species, do not fill an important ecological niche and could go extinct and be replaced by other insects
I think that's true for the Aedes egypti species at least, they're not native in the Americas and are a main disease-spreading species
This has been a common sentiment but it hasn’t been proven in any substantial way to my knowledge. I personally doubt it’s accurate. That’s not to say the entire ecosystem would collapse but there would likely be consequences.
That said, the other commenter is correct that there are many introduced mosquito species that could probably be eradicated from their non-native range without major ecological harm. And the species that are the worst pests in human cities tend to be introduced, so eliminating them might significantly reduce the level of bites and disease transmission for people.
Mosquitos are a nuisance to every mammal, I think if we could talk to animals this is how it would go down
Human: "So anyways we've been mulling over making the mosquito extinct, but it might have some consequences for yo..."
Mammals: "WTF BRO YOU COULD HAVE DONE THAT THE ENTIRE TIME! WHY TF ARE YOU STILL HERE GET RID OF THOSE FUCKERS!"
Ok but I still think the mosquito thing is worth a try. I’m even willing to live alongside wasps but mosquitoes gotta go!
I call BS on at least some of those claims. Citation or GTFO
The mosquito one is absolutely BS, there's 6k+ species of mosquitoes but only like a couple bite humans
The bats and shit will be fine, it's time to eradicate mosquitoes!
Agreed. There is a method that is simple, cheap, and non-toxic (to everything else).
The small section of mosquitoes that bite humans actually don't serve a critical niche like that, and just spread disease. Why the idea has been floated at sterilizing them.
How many species of birds and bats eat just mosquitoes though, or a high enough percentage that they would go extinct rather than shift to rely more on their other prey species, even if at a smaller population? And are those particular species of birds and bats worth the consequences of having mosquitoes?
Which would maybe force some other animals to change their behaviour slightly more, which in turn affects yet other species. And so the butterfly effect rolls on.
Or it doesn't and the system stabilises in another state. Who knows, can we actually know it with a high enough certainty or are the dependencies and behavioural guesses too complex?
I mean, has the system ever not eventually stabilized in another state? The fact that we have had extinctions, quite a lot of them even involving most species that have ever existed, and yet complex life and ecosystems still exist, would suggest that life will find a way to adapt around such a loss given time.
I would gladly feed the birds and bats to be rid of mosquitoes.
Just breed a competitive species that is genetically averse to human pheramones
Only certain mosquitoes for me. There is a very rare a pretty blue one (Sabethes cyaneus) I would be happy to feed occasionally. But aedes aegypti can suck a fat dick and rest in piss.
How about we send all the aegypti to a certain big white house to suck a fatass tinydick? I hear he's into piss.
What would happen if bedbugs went extinct? Other than mass celebrations, I mean.
If humans went extinct, the planet gets better?
There would be no one left to value it as such. It would simply continue to exist.
So yes. Better. Please excuse my colleague, they have ass burgers
OK, but all the ticks can go die in a fire
How about they all die in a chicken tummy
Explain humans. Checkmate, scientists!
Humanity is the CEO of earth.
Counterpoint: animals which are clearly not intelligently designed, like pandas and horses
Nothing evolves to have a purpose, something just mutated by chance that happens to serve a beneficial function to the environment and other organisms
Also I'm pretty sure birds, bats and plants can eat other bugs
What's the statistics on bug food for birds and plants ?
Statistics on bug food????? For birds and plants??? Do you want the whole thing dumped here in the comments? Or do you mean "do birds eat insects"? Yes. A lot.
Diets are highly species specific, but mosquitos are generally less than 3% of the diet for most birds and bats. Too small, don't fly around at the correct time of day/night, and pretty agile, so they aren't supper important for most birds and bats.
Also, usually they hatch in the billions all at once and die within a few weeks so there's a very limited amount of time that they even can be preyed on as food. Their strategy (many of them, not all species) is to overwhelm any predators with numbers.
Roaches? What?
I thought some of the specific mosquitoes that prey on humans can be killed with little side effects. Or is that just my cognitive bias dreaming of a better world
There are many types of mosquitoes, but only a few suck blood. It's the bloodsuckers they're talking about when they say no one would miss them.
I can tolerate most pests, even cockroaches, but I draw the line at bedbugs. Don't care if they have any purpose, just fuck them
If screworms went extinct there wouldn't be any animals starving... same with a lot of pests. guinea worm for example.
Sounds like something a wasp would say
Wasps are actually pretty cool by in large. I've only been stung twice by them. Once when I was a kid and it sucked and also don't remember what I was doing. The most recent time was a few weeks ago. They built a nest in the control area of a dryer I was selling. I stuck my hand right up in their nest, and felt what I thought was electric shocks despite this dryer being unplugged for a few days. I don't blame them and the pain subsided in minutes(also wasn't very bad to begin with). And they are a critical player in agricultural pest control. I run into wasps all the time and have only been stung twice in forty years. Wasps, like spiders, are bros as far as I'm concerned.
I absolutely like pests!
I like them to stay out of my house, mostly.
But you know, all the other stuff that helps keep us alive is a big bonus, too.
If humans went extinct.. um...
Um.
UUMMMM.......!!!!!
"haha we should commit global genocide, haha i'm so quirky"
If humans went extinct the planet would find balance.
We've successfully extinctified hundreds of species through our very excellent human-centric activities. I've yet to see any environmental fallout from it. Where are the secondary and tertiary extinctions of the animals that depended on the first lot we rubbed out? Where are the corpses left in the wake of the dodo's disappearance? Big Environmental Science™ won't tell you, because they can't. They're shills and liars, all of 'em. Rich elites who make bank on selling textbooks at a 1,200% markup.
Who's up for starting a truthseeker podcast with me?
/s
What about ticks?
I'm sure they somehow contribute to the stability, but I try so hard to ignore it.
It's spring (your hemisphere may vary) and time to set out tick tubes!
Tick tubes are cardboard tubes stuffed with cotton fluff soaked in permethrin. Mice use the cotton to make nests. The permethrin kills ticks on the mice, reducing the tick load of the area. It doesn't hurt the mice, and is much more targeted than just spraying the whole yard for insects.
As long as these creatures leave me the fuck alone they can stick around
...and if humans went extinct all species would benefit.
except dogs or animals that rely on humans
The sun has a purpose, and it can easily kill you. Merely having a purpose doesn’t make that purpose useful or without dangers.
We are the only species out of the ecologic system, we need the nature, but the nature don't need us.
I probably don't care about those plants or anything they depend on.
At least not enough to think mosquitoes are worth it.
I couldn't give less of a fuck about roaches, they ain't bother me, I ain't bother them. But mosquitoes? Purpose of no purpose, fuck them right to hell.
How do you define "wasp" though? All Hymenoptera? All Apocrita? All Apocrita minus Apoidea and/or Formicidae? All Vespoidea (minus Formicidae?)? Only Vespidae?
What about all the parasitic wasps? All fig trees would die and with them whole food webs. And if all the parasitic wasps that hold other organisms in check would die, this would also lead to a total disruption of so many biomes...
