Consequences when mosquitoes become extinct

Extinct mosquitoes can degrade the number of animals such as birds, insects, fish, specializing in mosquitoes or mosquito larvae.

If extinct, 3,500 species of mosquitoes on Earth will now disappear. Among them, about 200 species of mosquitoes are able to suck blood and three species of Anopheles, Culex, Aedes transmit dangerous diseases such as malaria and yellow fever, according to How Stuff Works.

Mosquitoes are agents that spread many dangerous diseases to humans.(Photo: BBC).

Mosquitoes have lived on Earth for over 100 million years and become an important part of the food chain. For example, in the Arctic tundra, many species of mosquitoes are food for migratory birds. If the mosquitoes disappear, the number of birds in the area may decrease by more than half. Scientists predict the same thing happens with many fish species in the world eating mosquito larvae.

As a result, mosquitoes that become extinct cause a ripple effect, which reduces the number of insects, fish, and birds that lie on the higher link in the food chain. However, extinct mosquitoes offer certain benefits. Dangerous diseases transmitted through mosquito bites no longer appear. For example, malaria kills about 1 million people and makes 246 million people sick each year.

Many scientists predict, while some animals eat mosquitoes starved to death, the rest will look for other prey to survive. They will adapt to new life and not become extinct by mosquitoes.

Scientists have discovered many ways to kill mosquitoes, among them genetic methods that make mosquitoes more male . In 2014, the research team at Imperial College London, England, created genetically modified mosquitoes by using enzymes that affect the X chromosome during sperm production, making most mosquitoes born male. With the next generation consisting mostly of male mosquitoes, mosquitoes will not grow strongly.