Zika Virus - Mosquitoes

[CrapAtCryptics]

I`ve been reading around and I cant find a definitive answer. Are mosquitoes a necessary part of our eco-system or can we just have a major purge and attempt to wipe them out?.

[pastafreak]

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=mosquito+ecosystem&;oq=mosquito+eco+&;aqs=chrome.1.69i57j0l3.17504j0j4&client=tablet-android-google&;sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8

The first listing- at nature.com- looks interesting. Plenty of info on offer if you Google.

[Old_Geezer]

I don't think they are that vital. Some other animals eat them, but not exclusively. That said not all varieties of the species are proving a problem for humans. Eliminating those who bite us is a great idea IMO. But it would be nice to wipe out the viruses too.

[RATTER15]

Would it even be possible to wipe out mosquitos?

[jomifl]

Mosquitoes are only vectors of diseases, they can only become vectors by biting animals already infected. Wiping out the disease organisms would work just as well. Most mosquitoes do not bite animals but harmlessly waft around drinking nectar etc. The ecological consequences of attempting to wipe out mosquitoes would probably be disastrous, much like using a sledgehammer to crack a peanut.

[pastafreak]

At the end of the article I linked above, a scientist states that if we were able to eradicate mosquitos..."something better or worse would take over"...maybe better the devil we know....

[Old_Geezer]

The latest suggestion is to release massive numbers of GM male mosquitoes who can not father offspring, until the species are wiped out. Of course there only needs to be one "normal" fertile pair of mosquitoes left when one stops, to start the species up again. I'm unsure if this has been covered or simply considered very unlikely.

[Old_Geezer]

Maybe they'll be taken over by a non human blood sucking option. If one targets the mosquito species that cause us distress then presumably the other mosquito species might simply expand their population ?