Ecology: A World Without Mosquitos

Probably everyone on the planet wishes mosquitos were dead-gone-zapped, right? Probably because you've been bitten by them all over, right? And you probably think that mosquitos have no real reason to exist on Earth, right? Consider this fact: Mosquitos have been around for 100 million years. What does this tell you? It tells you that if mosquitos had no reason to exist, they would have been extinct millions of years ago.

In this article, Ecology: A World Without Mosquitos,  the author, Janet Fang, explores the effect mosquitos have on our planet and the plants and animals in it, and, of course, on humans. The article advocates for the mosquitos by way of giving information about them: why we need mosquitos, and what could happen if humans were to rid the world of them. However, Fang does not outright say if mosquitos deserve to be condemmed or not- that's for the reader to decide.

The article helped me learn alot. While you are reading this, decide for yourself if you are for or against moquitos:
Facts to Make You Hate Mosquitos: There are about 3,500 different species of mosquitos, and those are only the number of named mosquitos. Malaria infects some 247 million a year, with 1 million deaths from it. Yellow fever, dengue fever, Japanese encephalitis, Rift Valley fever, Chikungunya virus, and West Nile virus are the diseases mosquitos tend to spread.

In Defense of Mosquitos:  While it is true there are 3,500 different species of mosquitos, only a few hundred of them bite or annoy people. Mosquitos are a primary food source for several types of fish, such as the mosquitofish, birds, insects, spiders, slamanders, lizards, and frogs. This means that if mosquitos were to vanish, the food chain would be seriously corrupted, and all animals up and down the food chain, such as birds, would be negatively effected. In additon, mosquitos in the Artic are the reason caribou migrate the way they do. You see, 3-4 weeks after the snow melts and the mosquitos are full-grown, they can become thick and dense clouds. To escape the swarms, the caribou tend to migrate using a path that faces into the wind. If mosquitos were to be extinguished, the migratory paths of the caribou would change, and, because thousands of caribou all walking over the same land can alter the land, plants, and animals, (such as wolves), it could cause serious damage to the ecosystem should the paths change. Lastly, mosquitos feed off of decaying leaves, organic matter, and microorganisms. It is in question whether other organisms would step in to do the job mosquitos originally did.

Well, now you have the knowledge. Should mosquitos be banished from this world for being annoying, disease-carrying pests?

To answer this question myself, I try to think like a mountain, which is to say, long-term. I think that if moquitos were to be wiped out, it would have serious negative impacts on our planet. I'll leave it at that.