this post was submitted on 16 Oct 2024
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[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 hours ago

I think they researched this and found that literally no creature completely rely on mosquitos, and that if they were wiped out the power vaccum would be replaced by other small flying insects that are within the diets of the creatures that would otherwise eat mosquitoes. So yeah, there really isn't anything stopping us from wiping them out. I say do it, and just keep some in a lab just in case if fucks stuff up. Or maybe more reasonably just modify them so they can't suck human blood or pierce human skin, which I'm pretty sure we're also already capable of.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 6 hours ago (1 children)

Funny how much (actual scientific) debate is around mosquito extinction event whilst we are well into a mass extinction event we caused (not to mention all the direct and systemic ecosystem eradication such as marshlands of all sorts).

[–] [email protected] 4 points 4 hours ago (1 children)

Exactly. If we're going to kill everything else, why not them?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 hours ago (1 children)

Because then we will have a few years of being able to sit outside in peace before going outside and melting.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 hours ago

And we as a species are such bastards that we would want them to melt, so it's all going according to plan.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 9 hours ago (2 children)

PLEASE do cockroaches next. I refuse to believe those monstrosities are capable of good, even tangentially.

[–] [email protected] 26 points 8 hours ago (3 children)

If cockroaches went extinct, there would actually be some pretty significant effects on ecosystems. They’re not just pests; they play a crucial role as decomposers. Cockroaches help break down dead organic matter—stuff like leaves, wood, and even dead animals. Without them, you’d start to see a buildup of this kind of waste, and the whole process of nutrient recycling would slow down. This matters because a lot of plants rely on nutrients that get released when organic material decomposes. If that process stalls, it could disrupt plant growth and soil health.

Plus, cockroaches are food for a ton of animals—birds, reptiles, small mammals, and other insects all rely on them. If they disappeared, it would mess with food chains, potentially leading to population drops in species that depend on them. And let’s not forget, cockroaches are also tied into the microbial world. They carry microorganisms that help break down certain materials, so their extinction could mess with those processes too.

So yeah, it’s easy to think the world would be better without them because they’re gross, but in reality, ecosystems would take a pretty big hit if cockroaches went extinct overnight.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 5 hours ago (1 children)

Yeah tbh cockroaches get a pass, mosquitoes are an existential threat to our species.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 hours ago

A bit of an exaggeration but fuck em.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 7 hours ago

Thanks for this. As much as I hate them, my daughter and I were recently trying to find whether they serve any purpose besides occasionally ruining my life.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 6 hours ago

They’re not just pests

*pets

[–] [email protected] 2 points 8 hours ago (1 children)

I saw three in the past hour. Two while I was in the shower, and one in the kitchen. I will do anything to have these fuckers extinct

[–] [email protected] 1 points 4 hours ago

You watch naked cock roaches showering?

[–] [email protected] 21 points 10 hours ago (2 children)

If you haven't seen Puss in Boots 2, do yourself a big favor and go see it.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 7 hours ago (1 children)

On the surface this seems like it could be a running joke. A sequel to an 11 year old spinoff from Shrek 2. Ridiculous that they came out with such a good film.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 hours ago

Who is your favorite fearless hero?

[–] [email protected] 8 points 8 hours ago* (last edited 8 hours ago)

It's a great movie, it brought me to tears, I highly recommend it.

I'm also just a sucker for Death depictions

[–] [email protected] 11 points 10 hours ago (1 children)

The mosquito we see around us are invasive species that we humans brought along as we migrate across the continent. Make sense if their extinction bring neglectable impact to the local ecosystem. They aren't supposed to be there to begin with.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 hours ago

There is a species of mosquito that is a prolific pollinator, one of them for blueberries.

[–] [email protected] 69 points 15 hours ago (3 children)

Meh, the global ecosystem is fucked anyway. Might as well trim out the especially annoying bits and enjoy some relative comfort on our way to extinction. If doing so accelerates our downfall a bit, that's a fair trade.

I say it's worth the risk.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 9 hours ago

This, we can't have only the bad parts of mass extinction

[–] [email protected] 39 points 15 hours ago (3 children)

But unfortunately, hunting nazis is still illegal.

[–] [email protected] 20 points 13 hours ago

But not immoral!

Don't let the law stop you from doing what's right.

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[–] [email protected] 38 points 16 hours ago (12 children)

Just a guess... they're probably a food source low in the chain. Disrupt the food chain and we're screwed.

https://www.britannica.com/story/what-purposes-do-mosquitoes-serve-in-ecosystems

[–] [email protected] 7 points 8 hours ago

Their eggs are a rich snack for fish. The reason they're a rich snack is because their mom sucked blood.

That said, we can probably kill off the one species that causes malaria. Other species will move into the gap.

[–] [email protected] 49 points 16 hours ago (3 children)

Well there's like 30 species and only 4 that hurt humans, so mosquitoes can stay, but those specific 4 can die off.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 8 hours ago* (last edited 8 hours ago) (1 children)

There's one specific species that causes malaria. Getting rid of that particular one would probably do more good than harm. Their place on the food chain can be filled in by others.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 4 hours ago

But if they fill in the place in the food chain, that also means they need to be snacking on us.

And I'm not just saying that to be a smart-ass. If humans were a different species, we'd call them horrendously invasive, awful for local ecosystems and that it's really important that their numbers are kept in check, or whatever other euphemisms there are.
No, I don't want to suggest that we should leave humans to die, but we should be aware that it's not as simple as just saving a few lives. We will run into different problems sooner rather than later.

[–] [email protected] 23 points 15 hours ago

Even better, there's thousands of mosquito species, and only 4 that bit humans

Those 4 can fuck right off into extinction

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[–] [email protected] 41 points 16 hours ago (2 children)

Everything I've read suggests that mosquitoes aren't a primary food source for anything, and that their absence would be relatively easily adusted for by those creatures that do eat them. Still, that's a hell of a dice roll.

Edit: And apparently that may be wrong anyway.

For other animals—such as lizards, frogs, spiders, and other insects—adult mosquitoes are the primary food source.

[–] [email protected] 16 points 14 hours ago* (last edited 14 hours ago) (1 children)

I have argued for the same caution every single time this came up on Reddit, because I know of a dozen examples in history where we fucked up something similar.

I got downvoted every single time, across several posts over the years, because obviously the hive mind believes things will be different this time! The thing that males me confident it'll fail is I've never seen, and nobody's ever provided, an example where this type of ecological engineering has actually succeeded for the better.

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[–] [email protected] 1 points 8 hours ago

I can kill off mosquitoes and spiders in the same go? smashes that mosquito-nuke button so hard that it's shattered to dust

[–] [email protected] 12 points 15 hours ago (1 children)

Mosquitos aren't some special niche. Take out mosquitos and something else moves in to replace them, something that doesn't bite.

There's nothing that solely depends on mosquitos, and wouldn't prefer to eat other things which mosquitos may be suppressing by existing themselves.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 8 hours ago

It's impressive that almost every single sentence that you wrote is incorrect.

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[–] [email protected] 6 points 13 hours ago (7 children)

Mosquitos are pollinators. And in some parts of the world that have extreme seasons that can't sustain bees, they seem rather important to the ecosystem.

Instead of eradicating them, genetically engineering away the numbing in their saliva that causes the allergic reaction in humans could be a solution.

I'll trade a couple weeks of itchy bites for a briefly painful bite any day.

Sure, humans would kill them instantly on feeling the bite, but most animals are not capable of that. Their populations would be fine.

[–] [email protected] 27 points 12 hours ago (1 children)

You think people want to extinguish mosquitoes because they bite is annoying?!

[–] [email protected] 4 points 7 hours ago

That's why i want every mosquito to burn a thousand deaths. They absolutely feast on me

Preventing the spread of disease is just a happy side effect

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