Can we wipe out mosquitoes?

With that being the case, it is nearly impossible to completely destroy mosquito breeding grounds. However, reducing standing water is still an effective way of weakening and reducing local mosquito populations. The second way of eliminating mosquitoes from a local area is with insecticides.

What would happen if all mosquitoes went extinct?

If mosquitoes were eliminated, the number of birds in the area could drop by more than half [source: Fang]. In fact, if mosquitoes were to disappear, the other insects and fish that feed on them would dwindle in number, which could cause a ripple effect throughout the food chain [source: Misra].

Should we kill mosquitoes?

Professor Steve Lindsay, a public-health entomologist at the University of Durham agrees: “I have no problem with taking out the mosquito.” In reality, as Lindsay and Ranson are quick to point out, the total extinction of all mosquito species would be as senseless as it would be impossible.

In reality, as Lindsay and Ranson are quick to point out, the total extinction of all mosquito species would be as senseless as it would be impossible. Of the 3,000 varieties on the planet, only 200 or so bite us; only Aedes aegypti, and perhaps the more common Culex quinquefasciatus, are thought to carry Zika.

How many humans are killed by mosquitoes each year?

They are, as such, the only creature responsible for the deaths of more humans than humans themselves; we only manage to kill about 475,000 a year. This deadly work is carried out all over the planet: mosquitoes are found on every continent except Antarctica.

How many times does an AEDES mosquito bite you?

W hen an Aedes aegypti mosquito bites you, she – because only the females, which need blood as nutrients for their offspring, bite – will probe your skin with her proboscis as many as 20 times.