What Would Happen if Mosquitoes Went Extinct?

It seems like a pleasant fantasy to wake up one day in a world without mosquitoes. No nightly visitors through an open window, nobody crashing your BBQs, and no more red itchy bumps. We’re left wondering, “What would happen if mosquitoes went extinct?”

These pests are also carriers of disease, which makes them more than a mere inconvenience; they are actually dangerous. Some of the illnesses caused by the pathogens they carry include the West Nile virus, dengue fever, malaria, Zika virus, and yellow fever. Hence, the desire for a mosquito-free world is certainly understandable in light of the risks these insects pose. What would happen if mosquitoes went extinct?

What Would Happen if There Were No Mosquitoes?

If mosquitoes went extinct, the entire ecosystem would be affected, but it would not collapse. Mosquitoes are not traditionally considered keystone species, but they play a significant role in ecosystems, especially as a food source for many species. Whether their extinction would be a cataclysmic event or not is up for debate. Some suggest that mosquitoes aren’t important enough to save, and there have been extensive studies into methods of mosquito eradication. However, others warn that there will be untold consequences since mosquitoes haven’t been studied extensively.

Niches Will Be Filled by Non-Mosquitoes

Some suggest that mosquito extinction and the subsequent empty niche wouldn’t be a problem. They think that the niche will quickly be filled by other species in existence, both from a predator and prey standpoint.

The food chain for some fish would be interrupted if mosquitoes disappeared. There are specialized predators like the mosquitofish that would likely go extinct in the absence of mosquitoes, even though they use other food sources and might adapt. Other fish would have to find alternative food sources, which can have a cascade effect across food chains and in all connected habitats.

Terrestrial animals wouldn’t fare as badly as fish in the absence of mosquitoes because their prey is more varied than the average fish. Animals like lizards, frogs, birds, and salamanders would eat other insects in response to the absence of mosquitoes.

To reiterate, there will likely be a proliferation of consumable insect species to fill the void left behind by mosquito extinction. While they do act as pollinators, again, it’s believed the void left behind by their absence will be easily filled by other extant pollinators, such as honey bees.

Disease Transmission via Mosquitoes

Some countries are overwhelmed by mosquito-borne diseases, and the eradication of mosquitoes would be a game-changer. What would happen if mosquitoes went extinct in these countries would be the unburdening from the stress of illness, prevention, and treatment costs. Malaria alone affects over 246 million people per year, with around 600,000 of those people dying.

Mosquitoes don’t just spread disease because they bite multiple victims in a row. The disease is passed on through their saliva. A virus that a mosquito consumes has to be able to infect its midgut; otherwise, it’ll just be digested and removed from the body. If a mosquito’s midgut does get infected, the infection progresses until it contaminates the saliva.

Many mosquitoes die from the illness before the disease takes hold. It is only the saliva of infected mosquitoes that spreads diseases to other hosts beyond the original infected host.

Mosquito Extinction and the Arctic

One of the areas that might be significantly impacted by the extinction of mosquitoes is the Arctic. There, mosquitoes lay their eggs while it’s warm, and the eggs survive winter. The next year, they hatch, and in less than a month, the larvae become full-grown mosquitoes.

They breed in such large numbers in the Arctic that they form thick clouds. These clouds prove dangerous to animals like caribou. The mosquitoes bother them so much that they will often flee their typical grazing grounds, driving them into cooler areas with poorer grazing just to escape them.

Lots of migratory birds that summer in the Arctic rely on this mass of mosquitoes as a food source. If the mosquito clouds dissipate, so will bird species right along with them. However, the mosquito niche in the Arctic might be filled with local flies such as midges.

How Long Have Mosquitoes Existed?

Mosquitoes have existed on this planet for more than 100 million years. That’s a long enough period to allow them to co-evolve with the ecosystems they live in. They’ve annoyed so many generations of animals and their ancestors that they’re partially responsible for the defense mechanisms that animals have against insects.

How Many Types of Mosquitoes Are There?

There are over 3,500 different types of mosquitoes. However, only 200 or so choose humans as their primary host. Aedes, Culex, and Anopheles mosquitoes are the main vectors for diseases like yellow fever and malaria, although this doesn’t mean that others aren’t vectors for diseases. Any mosquito that feeds on blood is a potential disease spreader.

The elephant mosquito is a large mosquito that eats the larvae of smaller mosquitoes. Not all mosquitoes are annoying like the mosquitoes that plague us. If we could spare the elephant mosquito in the great mosquito elimination, we should.

Are Mosquitoes Pollinators?

Some mosquitoes are pollinators, and some eat nectar alone. There are some orchid species (such as the blunt-leaf orchid) that rely on mosquitoes for pollination. These would be lost if all mosquitoes happened to go extinct. However, very few plants rely on mosquitoes alone, which means other insects will fill their place in their absence. Even the mosquitoes that rely on animal blood aren’t complete vampires, as only females feed on blood and only at certain times, while males almost always feed solely on nectar.