Is it right to eradicate mosquitoes?

Mosquitoes are the most dangerous insects in the world. Mosquitoes live in all continents and in all habitats. They live in any environment except in cold weather. Their favorite habitats are forests, tall grasses, weeds and plants, drainage ditches, meadows, pools, pastures etc… They require plenty of water to survive. The water may be drainage water or clean water or stagnant water.

Mosquitoes carry disease causing parasites. They spread diseases like zika virus, yellow fever, malaria, dengue fever, chikungunya etc. About 250 million people are affected with these diseases all over the world every year. They cause huge financial loss and medical burden by spreading these diseases. People die due to these diseases. Even animals are affected by these deadly mosquitoes.

 

There are about 3500 species of mosquitoes living in this planet. Most of them do not bite and bother human beings. Only a few hundred species are having devastating effects on humans. It is the female mosquitoes that suck the blood of humans and animals because they need the protein present in the blood to develop and nurture the eggs. The male mosquitoes live by feeding on the nectar of fruit bearing trees and plants.

 More than a million people die each year from dengue, malaria etc. The mosquitoes are tiny in size but very efficient in killing people. Many countries are waging war against these tiny insects and they are trying to wipe out their entire clan. They are inventing variety of ways to destroy all the mosquitoes from our planet. In our country we are using only DDT. This pesticide is destroying other birds, insects like butterfly etc. and is causing respiratory diseases in young and old. But it is failing to control mosquitoes as they have become immune to this chemical.

No doubt, mosquitoes are bad and the worst enemy to mankind. Is it right to destroy the entire species? It is not right because they perform important functions and play a vital role in preserving the food web and ecological balance of our planet.

Mosquitoes are the oldest living insects. They have been on this earth for more than hundred million years. They represent an enormous amount of biomass on this earth. Eradicating mosquitoes will disturb the food chain and create imbalance.

 

Male mosquitoes feed on the nectar of fruit bearing flowers and orchids and pollinate them.  They are the only pollinators of certain tasty and nutritious fruits. Suppose the mosquito clan is killed we will lose the tasty fruits and beautiful orchids.

Mosquito larvae feed on the floating decomposing organic material, such as bacteria and feces, which has been deposited by animals and decayed aquatic plant and animal bodies. Therefore the top layer of the water body becomes clean. Mosquito larvae help in the circulation of dissolved oxygen in water which allows other aquatic animals and plants to survive. In addition, the mosquito larvae serve as food for fishes and other aquatic animals. If mosquitoes are destroyed, fishes will be deprived of their food and become extinct.

Male mosquitoes feed on decayed organic matter and microbes. Our planet Earth has plenty of this type of waste. Mosquitoes serve as cleaners of this planet.

Adult mosquitoes are a source of food for bats, fishes, spiders, frogs, lizards, turtles, birds etc.  If the mosquitoes are destroyed all the above species of animals may vanish from the earth.

Birds migrate from place to place in search of favourable climate. The arctic region is snow clad for most part of the year. When the snow melts many birds migrate to that region. Their only food is larvae of the mosquitos. If mosquitoes are eradicated, then the birds cannot migrate to that region.

If birds cannot migrate, then plant propagation and pollination will decrease. Living beings on this planet will begin to decline. If all living beings are interdependent by nature then how can the human beings survive?  There will be a collateral damage to the flora and fauna of this planet.

So think before eradicating mosquitoes from the planet. Innovate and devise an effective tool or find out ways and means to control them but not destroy them altogether because they spread diseases. Mosquitoes controlling device should not destroy or harm or cause any health problems to other living members of this planet.

Eradicating mosquitoes completely may destroy our planet. Mosquitoes are important ecologically. Some of the species of mosquitoes spread life threatening diseases. That means not all the species of mosquitoes are potential threat to

humanity. So we have to only control the disease causing nature of the mosquitoes. How? 

We have to control the population of the mosquitoes that spread diseases. The genes of the harmful species of mosquitoes should be genetically modified and their life span should be reduced. That means that as soon as the eggs are hatched out they should die. Or, the genes that help them to carry the parasites should be altered. Scientists should research more on altering their genes that spread diseases so that our ecosystem and health are protected.