Should We Eradicate Mosquitos?

[Fake Messiah]

Mosquitoes could possibly make a true zombie outbreak since Zika doesn't just affect fetuses, but also brains of adults too and yet people still want them around

[A Handmaid]

DO IT

[Mermaid]

Mosquitoes could possibly make a true zombie outbreak since Zika doesn't just affect fetuses, but also brains of adults too and yet people still want them around

It's not a matter of "wanting" them around. It's a matter of altering an ecosystem to benefit man. We need to look outside of ourselves a bit more at the bigger picture. They fill an ecological niche for good reason that may not be completely understood.

That being said, here in Michigan, there's a huge (HUGE) bloom of extremely aggressive, day-biting mosquitoes called Aedes vexans happening right now. They have effectively trapped us indoors for the last few weeks and every time it rains, they get worse. I want them all to die fiery deaths immediately.

[Mermaid]

I am extraordinarily sensitive to mosquito bites because I reared them in the lab for years and have been bitten by them about a billion times. I have so many bites on my body right now (and for some reason lots on my ass) that I want to sand off my skin with sandpaper.

[Fake Messiah]

We need to look outside of ourselves a bit more at the bigger picture. They fill an ecological niche for good reason that may not be completely understood.

Oh, come on: mosquitoes are giving us brain eating diseases, but we must not be selfish and look at the bigger picture, because if we eradicate them we may all die (although scientists think nothing major will happen and we can always keep few mosquitoes in the lab just to make sure) and if we keep them we could face serious repercussions and even dying, but at least we're looking at the bigger picture.
Also, if we keep mosquitoes and Zika turns out to be very deadly and kills us all / turns us into zombies not all people will die, like the ones with Sickle-cells, because they don't get bitten. They will live on and fight "World War Z" and make new civilization form themselves. I just hope they make us a monument that shows that we were not selfish and look at the bigger picture.

But also it's a question if we can even eradicate them. GMO treatment is supposedly very efficient, apparently killing them over 90% but not 100% and since it's GMO it has it's stigma among majority of people that are not educated enough about it so it may actually never come to life - so to speak in US and Europe.

[CapnAwesome]

In case people aren't aware, there is a radiolab podcast about this called 'kill em all' http://www.radiolab.org/story/kill-em-all/

There is a guy who very convincingly makes the case the mosquitos don't fill an important ecological niche, aren't a major source of calories for bats or anything else really, and what impact they had would simply be overtaken by the countless other insects out there. I say lets 'Kill 'em all'