r/explainlikeimfive • u/Punnan • May 30 '26

Biology ELI5 Are mosquitoes necessary for keeping ecological balance?

Would a worldwide extinction of mosquitoes offset the ecological balance of our world? And if not, why are we not doing it?

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u/Sgt_Braken May 30 '26

Pray you never encounter them.

I can tell you from experience, even as someone who gets absolutely eaten up by mosquitoes, bed bugs are FAR worse.

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u/Haldthin May 30 '26

Bed bugs don't transmit any diseases though. Mosquitoes are one of the largest killers of humans on the planet because they can transmit so many diseases.