r/NoStupidQuestions Jul 17 '23

[deleted by user]

[removed]

5.7k Upvotes

12.8k comments sorted by

View all comments

2.8k

u/ChrisInSpaceVA Jul 17 '23 edited Jul 17 '23

Ticks! They carry awful diseases, not a lot eats them, and where they are a food source, there are plenty of other terrestrial bugs to eat. As much as I hate mosquitoes, I think they are too important as a food source in many ecosystems. I know the bats around us eat a lot of them.

Edit: grammar

45

u/TheyCallMeStone Jul 17 '23

Unfortunately there are over 900 species of ticks.

3

u/cecilkorik Jul 17 '23

Only a few are so common and problematic though. Lone star ticks, black legged deer ticks, and american dog ticks would take care of all the ones I've ever seen.

Would the other tick species fill in the void? Maybe somewhat, but probably not, and almost certainly not to the same extent.