this post was submitted on 04 Jun 2024
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If we could engineer and exterminate all ticks and mosquitos we'd all be so happy.
And dead cuz the food chain would collapse.
Had to ask ChatGPT what relies on ticks and mosquitoes to survive
Species that Rely on Ticks:
Borrelia burgdorferi: The bacterium that causes Lyme disease, which relies on Ixodes ticks (deer ticks) for transmission.
Rickettsia rickettsii: The causative agent of Rocky Mountain spotted fever, transmitted by various tick species.
Babesia: Various species of Babesia rely on ticks for transmission to vertebrate hosts, causing babesiosis.
Species that Rely on Mosquitoes:
Dengue virus: Relies on Aedes mosquitoes (especially Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus) for transmission.
Zika virus: Also transmitted primarily by Aedes mosquitoes.
West Nile virus: Transmitted by several species of Culex mosquitoes.
Malaria parasite(Plasmodium spp.): The Plasmodium parasites, such as Plasmodium falciparum, rely on Anopheles mosquitoes for part of their life cycle.
Wuchereria bancrofti: The causative agent of lymphatic filariasis, transmitted by Culex, Anopheles, and Aedes mosquitoes.
Brugia malayi: Another filarial nematode causing lymphatic filariasis, primarily transmitted by Mansonia and Anopheles mosquitoes.
Maybe their diet would shift but a lot of animals eat ticks. Frogs and toads, many smaller birds like warblers and probably house sparrows and robins, chickens love them, and of course opposums and mice.
Similar for mosquitos. I see the house sparrows around here catching mosquitos all the time. I'm pretty sure dragon flies feed heavily on them too.
Opossums eat more ticks around where I live than anything. I’m in Virginia so we have all the shitty deer ticks with Lymes. It’s a big problem.
I imagine anyone living where mosquitoes have malaria or any of the other crappy viruses wouldn’t mind them being extinct.
Fish are natural predators of mosquitos.