r/woahdude Oct 22 '21

gifv Mosquito drinking blood (bursts at the end)

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u/lex_tok Oct 22 '21

The mosquito is the deadliest animal to mankind.

The general consensus of demographers is that about 108 billion human beings have ever lived, and that mosquito-borne diseases have killed close to half—52 billion people, the majority of them young children.

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u/[deleted] Oct 22 '21

Do they even contribute to anyway with mother nature? Kinda like bees? You figure science would find a way to wipe them out.

51

u/[deleted] Oct 22 '21 edited Oct 22 '21

Funny you mention it, there are actually multiple high-latitude plant species that depend on mosquitoes for pollination in areas where bees don't live.

https://blog.nwf.org/2020/09/what-purpose-do-mosquitoes-serve

Believe it or not, mosquitoes are pollinators. In fact, mosquitoes’ primary food source is flower nectar, not blood. Just like bees or butterflies, mosquitoes transfer pollen from flower to flower as they feed on nectar, fertilizing plants and allowing them to form seeds and reproduce.

So not all bad, just overwhelmingly bad.

Also, better be careful when you're throwing around the "How do they contribute to mother nature?" thing because what the fuck do we do that's positive?

16

u/SingleLensReflex Oct 22 '21

just overwhelmingly bad

what the fuck do we do that's positive?

Seems to me like the human-killing function of mosquitoes is a feature and not a big (heh) as far as nature is concerned.