WWIII and Death to the Mosquito

[madhatters4]

The idea occurred to me after reading an article about how scientists were combating the spread of Zika virus AND after going outside to grill steak last night and being bitten 8x's in 5 minutes by those pesky winged monsters

Scientists have begun the combat of Zika Virus by releasing genetically modified mosquitoes with a fatal gene injected in the male so when they mate with females the females will die. They've started doing this in a few cities where Zika virus is particularly rampant.

I thought after reading this why don't we just get rid of mosquitoes all together
a few quick facts:

1. Only female mosquitoes bite humans (isn't that just like a chick.....kidding of course)

2. Of the 2500 mosquito species only about 100 bite humans

3. Mosquitoes are the most deadly animal on the planet killing more than 1,000,000 people annually (spreading diseases like malaria, dengue fever, yellow fever, and encephalitis)

4. Mosquitoes are just as deadly to non-human animals as well. (from the diseases they spread to cases like in the Arctic where yearly 100s of cases show animals suffocating from fatal swarms of mosquitoes)

With most animals on the planet there is a benefit to their existence; however this doesn't seem to be the case as Janet McCallister at the CDC said “If there was a benefit to having them around, we would have found a way to exploit them. We haven't wanted anything from mosquitoes except for them to go away.”

Now male mosquitoes do pollinate flowers; however no science shows that without mosquitoes any flower species would suffer as other pollinators would abound (bees, hummingbirds, etc)

While some animals, like lizards use mosquitoes as a food source, most scientists and biologists with the nature conservancy believe that those animals may suffer short term but would find alternative food sources like flies, gnats, etc.

Even in the most pesky of animals is an inherent benefit to the world (bees, spiders, snakes, mice, etc) however this is not the case with with mosquitoes..... So would you object if we just got rid of them??

DEATH TO MOSQUITOES!!

Sources:

https://www.nature.com/news/2010/100721/full/466432a.html

https://insects.about.com/od/flies/a/10-facts-about-mosquitoes.htm

https://moneymorning.com/acq/zika/genetically-modified-mosquitoes-coming-to-a-town-near-you?iris=542409&ad=za2a-gmmytn-mosl&test_id=1470861480

[Valkyrie1]

Man-made extinction of any native species is a bad idea they exist because they play an ecological role. Besides being pollinators lot of animals relies on them as a food sourceThose genetically modified mosquitos are only a temporary fix because the modified ones will not reproduce as often as the fitter mosquitos like how heavy pesticide use creates superbugs. The buggers are here to stay they one of the fittest organisms on the planet after all. We just gotta live with them it sucks but all well.

[madhatters4]

they are a food source and a pollinator. but people smarter than me seem to think that those animals that eat them would find alternatives

[Valkyrie1]

Meh. It would still make things harder for them there are enough stress on wildlife enough as it is. It could create problems that have not yet been foreseen.

[madhatters4]

human death toll factor in anywhere?

[Valkyrie1]

Yep. If it affects the enviroment it will affect people.

[orphan]

"meh" ------ we're animals as well and mosquitos don't need to create a problem with us as they're already a problem.

oh no some animals might stress over having to adapt to other food sources---- thats so important it takes precedence over a million human deaths a year... "meh"

[orphan]

surely their good riddance will affect humans. the problem is, that effect might be beneficial... just as much as it could be detrimental. the effect of their nonexistence would have to be greater than a million deaths a year.

[madhatters4]

@orphan that was sort of my thought process. that there seems to be lots of similar food sources for lizards and other mosquito animals; @Maxemeister made a good point though about the deaths due to mosquito bites and the diseases they carry may be part of a natural population control

[Maxemeister]

yes yes my opinion on the subject is right therefore submit m8's

[Valkyrie1]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GRP1I7UPhng

[madhatters4]

exactly... Death to mosquitoes... haha

[Maxemeister]

Everything is connected. If not a food source, then think of it this way.

Humans are the top dogs, there's no argument there. So, how can anything put us in check? Simple, disease, via nature. That's nature's way of actually making us stronger. But if we eliminate all diseases, then in a couple of years we'll be very fragile beings.

[madhatters4]

good point. a form of population control

[FatherJack]

Good points , also we " self predate " as a species via murder / warfare , as Arnie's T 800 flatly stated in Terminator 2 " It is in your nature to destroy yourselves !! " No argument there !!

[renogaza]

when mankind starts meddling with the natural order of ecological system they only make more problems than solutions, they tried in Australia with the rabbit outbreaks there, poisoned the rabbits and killed almost all of them, but they adapted and are now a new generation of rabbit that are lethally toxic to all species of animal, so now not only can't people eat it but animals across the Australian outback are dying from hunting and eating rabbits, all because mother said f**k you to the human race.

another example is the explosive population of poisonous bullfrogs in France, which they thought they could contain by introducing pythons into the system, the pythons did kill all the bullfrogs, but they also killed all kinds of other animals and even people, now the pythons in France can be comparable in size and sheer weight as the giant pythons found in Malaysia, Cambodia and the Philippines.

so in short, killing the mosquito's with toxins or with forced introduction of predators will at best destroy the ecosystem and at worst kill a lot of people, mosquito's did not survive the all the way from the Mid-Triassic Era 246 Million Years Ago for nothing.

[madhatters4]

"worst kill a lot of people"? how would that occur?

[renogaza]

mother nature* typo

also technically as far as its role in the global ecosystem, they were partly responsible for the forced evolution of dinosaurs and various prehistoric fauna as early as the Triassic Era to the Jurassic and Cretaceous Era, they are also responsible for the continuation of a number of species of Flora that all have their roles in the ecosystem and also serve a role as food for various species of bats and spiders, so no matter how much we demonize mosquito's the earth needs them, what the earth doesn't need is us.

[renogaza]

@madhatters4 mosquito's are extremely old prehistoric antropods, and like all antropod's they evolved very rapidly throughout the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous Period, Survived the extinction of the Dinosaurs and continued to evolve into the various species we know of today, the fact that they now live in this chapter of the earths long history doesn't make them any less capable of evolving to adopt this manufactured poison to kill millions of people across the world just like the rabbits did.

[renogaza]

playing with the lives of the children of mother nature will only bring forth calamity, and mother nature does not take kind to anyone who angers her, the reason we have countless viruses, deceases, infections and contagent's the world today is because of mother nature getting sick of the human race having absolutely no positive role in the global ecosystem other than being rotting flesh for worms and maggots to feast on, all we ever do and always have done is destroy the world, its only natural that gaia would hate us back with a passion.

[renogaza]

and no I'm not a treehugger hippy or anything like that, and i'm not bashing you madhatters, i just don't want to see the world end sooner than i expect it too (which is hopefully 5 billion years from now when the sun turns into a red super-giant)

[madhatters4]

i don't feel like you're bashing me. i tend to believe the same taht all animals serve a vital purpose. but was just bringing up the issue and what i'd looked up, most biologist seem to think that species would adapt to the loss of mosquitoes... not that they advocate eliminating a species

[renogaza]

animals and plants adapt to their environments and the conditions at the time, but they cannot adapt very well to the loss of their primary source of food, its just like with bees, there are plenty of other species of insect in the world that help pollinate plants and keep them all alive, but if the bees all die out the world's flora will all die signaling the beginning of the end, just because other insects can replace the mosquito's role in the ecological cycle doesn't mean that they can replace mosquito's, humanity is way over their heads if they think animals have our kind of philosophy, most animals are not nomads and will die without their natural source of food

[JimRSmith]

Excellent take - I'm all for eradicating them. Particularly from the many, many places where they aren't part of the ecosystem, and are just an invasive pest species anyway.

[sp33d]

--Janet McCallister at the CDC said “If there was a benefit to having them around, we would have found a way to exploit them--

Argues that gnats/mosquitos don't have a purpose because WE can't exploit them in any way. ...*facepalm*

Janet McCallister ought to learn to stfu.

[madhatters4]

yes having an opinion is so vile.

[FallOutBoy2001]

Well Janet McCallister has a PhD in a pertinent field and you don't, so stfu

[sp33d]

@FallOutBoy2001 That comment suggests undergraduate level of thinking at best.

[FallOutBoy2001]

I'm still in high school, so of course it's undergraduate. She does have a PhD and you don't, so I'd go out on a limb and say she knows what she's talking about

[sp33d]

@FallOutBoy2001 was referring to her comment, not yours. What you are doing is invoke 'argument of authority'. That is not enough to convince me.

Furthermore, having PhD in a given area doesn't make that person an authority on any field conceivable.

[FallOutBoy2001]

Argument of authority is a reasonable argument technique if the authorative figure is an authority is the area you're talking about. If I'm not mistaken, she is an authority in this field

[YourFutureEx]

If god asks me which creature should get extinct, I'll ask for mosquitoes.

[anonman32]

This is one of the few cases where i support genocide. We should only genocide the musqitos that bite humans though the others have done nothing wrong.

[helloitsmethere]

I knew all of these lol
When you live in the Caribbean, October is a month in which the mosquito repellents get sold out easily.

[Ali55sven]

massacre them bitches. I got bit so many times when i visited some countries on holidays.

[Mustachekitteh]

Sadly without their extinct a lot of aquatic animals would die due to lack of food source. :(

[madhatters4]

aquatic animals? like what? could they potentially find a new food source like other insects

[Mustachekitteh]

Different types of fish.

[Mustachekitteh]

I think they would have a harder time trying to find a new source

[madhatters4]

perhaps especially if they primarily eat insects since mosquitoes spend so much time around water...

[NatashaJ]

They are needed thou.

[madhatters4]

for what? aside from pollinating some flowers i've never heard of other reasons they are needed

[NatashaJ]

Animals feed on them and since we already killing a lot I think we can be nice and keep mosquitoes around. There a reason for everything. Mosquitoes have a purpose.

[madhatters4]

some animals feed on them for sure. but as i mentioned some biologists think those species that feed on them could find alternative food sources like flies, gnats and other light flying insects.

but i certainly respect and understand your point of view...

i wasn't truly advocating the elimination of a species mostly just trying to provoke discussion

[Anonymous]

i hate them

[madhatters4]

i read over the weekend that scientist are working on a process of sterilizing male mosquitos to slowly erode the mosquito population.

[FrankReynolds]

Get rid of them. Too many lives destroyed.

[madhatters4]

like the user name. definitely my fave character on Sunny

[COCOCHANEL]

bats would object

[madhatters4]

couldn't bats find other foods?

[COCOCHANEL]

maybe

[Anonymous]

"Drain the swamps"