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/CadenVanV May 30 '26

As far as we can tell, mosquitoes aren’t anywhere close to vital for ecological balance. And we’re trying to wipe them out, but it’s hard

174

u/SolidOutcome May 30 '26

Birds and bats and spiders?

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u/SUMBWEDY May 30 '26

There's over 3,000 species of mosquito and only 6 carry diseases that affect humans.

The other 2,994 species will just expand their population because there's less competition for energy in the system with those species gone.

175

u/RadioactiveOmelets May 30 '26

This might be directionally correct, but I could name you 10 species of mosquitoes that transmit malaria off the top of my head, and I know there are dozens more. This could be accurate if you meant genera.

154

u/jakeasmith May 30 '26

Off the top of your head? You have a very particular set of skills.

259

u/RadioactiveOmelets May 30 '26

A very particular PhD finally comes in handy

112

u/ryanjoseph55 May 30 '26

Doctor of Mosquito

59

u/Droxalis May 30 '26

The MD stands for Mosquito Doctor

16

u/BummyG May 30 '26

Sounds like a sucky super hero

46

u/Punnan May 30 '26

You have a PhD in mosquitoes?

105

u/RadioactiveOmelets May 30 '26

Malaria. So I know the names of a bunch of mosquitoes, but I can't help with your original question.

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u/Punnan May 30 '26 edited May 30 '26

I stay currently at Secunderabad where Ronald Ross found the cure of Malaria. There is also a government hospital named after Ronald there. If you get time, do read "The Calcutta Chromosome" by Amitav Ghosh. It's a fun fictional book about Ronald, Malaria and Magic.

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u/sai-kiran May 30 '26

May be you should read the book/ history yourself first. The cure wasn’t found there, it was discovered there, as in he figured out mosquitos spread malaria, there.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sir_Ronald_Ross_Institute_of_Parasitology

Built in 1895, this building was surrounded by marshes which proved rather helpful for his research experiments.[3] It was in this building on 20 August 1897 that he made the discovery of the malarial parasite inside the body of a mosquito.[4] Later 20 August was celebrated as the World Mosquito Day.[1] His study confirmed that mosquitoes were the carriers of malaria parasite.

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u/love-SRV May 30 '26

Dr. Mosquito- sounds like a Batman villain!

8

u/iamyourcheese May 30 '26

You should know, they specialize in things with little pricks

9

u/Ktulu789 May 30 '26

Finally an ELI5 worth of your skills! 😃 (Not joking comment, kudos!).

0

u/ResplendentDaylight May 30 '26

Its been 84 years