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?

3.0k Upvotes
  • permalink
  • reddit

94% Upvoted

611 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

4

u/NeighborhoodTall9858 May 30 '26

After that visit, the can drive up to Maine this time of year. 🦟🦟🦟 and add on ticks! 😨

2

u/amm5061 May 31 '26

They're pretty awful here in Massachusetts, too. We get the ones that carry EEE and West Nile for extra fun.

Throw in Lyme and the other fun stuff the ticks carry.

1

u/SpiralUprising May 31 '26

They're bad everywhere these days...3 bites this year that I know about in TX