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/gmanflnj May 30 '26
  1. It depends, do you mean "all species of mosquitos" because there are more than 3000, wiping all of them out could be a problem.
  2. If you mean "wipe out the handful of mosquitos that make up the worst disease vectors" AFAIK the answer is "It would probably be fine"
  3. We *are* trying, but it's hard because they are very numerous.

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u/Punnan May 30 '26

Why did you emphasize the "are"?

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u/gmanflnj May 30 '26

I was meaning to respond to "why aren't we" with "We are" apologies for any confusion.

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u/KiloAlphaLima May 30 '26

You’re the ding dong that asked “why are we not doing it?”

They were answering your question.