Would ANYTHING bad happen to our ecosystem if mosquitoes were extinct?

Question

I say we kill off the little f---ers.

I know lots of 'bad' creatures actually perform valuable functions for our planet, but what about Mosquitoes? Do they provide ANY function besides spreading Malaria, West Nile Virus, Encephalitis, Heartworms, Dengue Fever, and widespread suffering?

Answer 1

them little buggers! what good could they possibly have in the world? Eliminate them,  the worst it can do is cause a little ripple in the food web.. But I can't imagine anything drastic would happen because of those nasty little creatures... BE GONE MOSQUITOS! END WEST NILE AND MALARIA, and any other diseases.. SAVE LIVES....... Donate to poverty stricken areas. People! Save a life, everyone is capable of doing it. ciao.

Answer 2

I have 3 pet skeeters! I'm calling the ASPCA

Answer 3

Impossible to answer.

Mozzies are certainly a food source for many animals. The transfer of one disease that we think is bad, might be preventing us from getting another disease that is even worse.

The fact is, everything on this planet evolved together. Everything affects the environment.

Just because we have identified something as "bad", does not make it so. Bad is relative.

Answer 4

They are a great food source for Bats and some birds like Purple Martins and Hummingbirds. Also, fish eat them when they land on water.

Answer 5

Yes, every organism in an ecosystem provides some sort of a purpose.  If mosquitoes were eliminated it would result in a loss of available food for any animals that consume them.  Also going back to the diseases you mentioned, if they did not spread those diseases certain animals would be able to thrive which would cause over population of those animals.

Answer 6

i dont know but im for it....mosquitos suck!!

Answer 7

Mosquitos have a purpose; they feed mosquito-eating animals.  Besides, Mother Nature needs her diseases.  If she didn't have 'em, this whole place would be WAY more overpopulated.

Answer 8

If we did away with mosquitoes, blood-sucking lawyers wouldn't have any competition.

Answer 9

Amen! I've been trying to sleep, but I've got one buzzing around my room...ahhh! (lol!)

Answer 10

end of westnile. ;] save lifes

Answer 11

Mosquitos have there own place among the food chain. Frogs and other amphibians eat them, as well as birds.  Their extinction might cause a distruption, but probably not likely, due to the high amounts of gnats and other flying insects that are related.

  Yes, if they were to go extinct, it would help solve some of the problems about diseases such as Malaria and West Nile (and others).  

  But I wouldn't miss them if they were gone.  And I'm sure that the other mass amounts of insects would make up for their loss.

Answer 12

haha, that's so funny..ive found myself asking this question everytime one of those d**n things bit me...i cant see anything bad happening from them going extinct either...why dont we just find some way to destroy the little b******s already. lol

Answer 13

As others have shown these creatures are woven tightly into the ecosystem, providing food for other species, etc.

Seems to me the best species to get rid of the problems you list AND give a boost to almost every other species would be us, humans!

Now, rats and roaches would die back probably by 99%, without their hosts but other surviving species should do well and the ecosystem/planet would once again bloom.

It could again become an inviting and beautiful ball of Blue, spinning in an ocean of dark space, waiting for intelligent life to arrive!

Answer 14

Even mosquitoes have their place in the food chain. Any missing link in that chain causes ripples somewhere. Unfortunately. I'd like to lay waste to roaches and water bugs, too.

Answer 15

never heard of a mosquito helping anyone out... take the flea out too!

Answer 16

They feed a variety of other animals by sacrificing themselves as food, and then these animals sacrifice themselves to bigger animals as food and so on. The entire world would burst into flames and freeze all because of no mosquito's. We must try to make them more plentiful.