Pharyngula

Posted by: B166ER | July 30, 2010 11:31 AM

We may not be able to or want to eradicate the little buggers, but this seems encouraging! P.Z., what do you think of the possibility of this being a viable option to deal with mosquito spread diseases?
http://www.medicaldaily.com/news/20100715/275/first-malaria-proof-mosquito-created-by-scientists.htm
Saw it on Skepchick and wanted your take.

No Gods, No Masters
Cameron

Posted by: littleoutrage | July 30, 2010 11:59 AM

Public slightly more informed about the state of the planet and the necessity of maintaining biodiversity. Thanks!

Posted by: vbalbert | July 30, 2010 12:05 PM

@#2: PZ mentioned this very thing in his interview.

Posted by: rippingrich | July 30, 2010 12:59 PM

What blows my mind is the audacity that we have any kind of right to wipe out a species, simply for our own comfort.

Posted by: Charlie | July 30, 2010 1:41 PM

Which species are we talking about? There are some 3300 species of mosquitoes of which only a very small handful are of concern as vectors for human disease. Knocking out all 3300 species would surely be an impossible task and a pointless one but knocking out an Anopheles species in a particular region with a heavy burden of Plasmodium falciparum would save a whole lot of lives. And while Culicoides gnats might be a major nuisance in Minnesota, they are responsible for transmitting Mansonella and Oropouche virus in other parts of the world. Simply reducing the numbers greatly would be a huge benefit.

Posted by: Greg Laden | July 30, 2010 2:13 PM

I should clarify: There are not two dozen or so mosquitoes drinking your blood in Minnesota. Mostly one or two species do most of the work.

Posted by: Charlie | July 30, 2010 3:21 PM

Just out of curiosity, I wonder how people would feel about eradicating Cimex spp. (bedbugs) if we could. They don't cause any deaths and yet I bet most people would love to wipe those little guys off the face of the Earth, especially once they've had them in their house. Would anyone be willing to hold up the "Save the Bedbugs" sign? Ohhh, how about Sarcoptes scabei? I'm just sayin...

Posted by: Charlie | July 30, 2010 4:22 PM

Jadehawk,

It is possible to target a particular one or two species that have the same behavior characteristics. For instance, something like lethal ovitraps, where females are exposed to an insecticide through their choice of breeding site and egg-laying characteristics, are being developed. There are probably other options that I'm not aware of also.

I don't know anything about your second point.

Posted by: Paul | July 30, 2010 5:37 PM

@15, 2)

He's not in the dungeon, although he hasn't been around since April or so. He did seem more attracted by discussions of brown people and L-word-tarians, though, so I don't think he'll be around on this one. Could be wrong.

Posted by: Dania | July 30, 2010 7:41 PM

Aren't there about 1000 species disappearing every day from Planet Earth? The ecosystem has not crashed just yet.

So let's exterminate some more until it "crashes", eh?

I say - make it 1001. The world would be a much better place without mosquitoes.

"Mosquitoes" are most definitely not one single species. There are thousands of species.

Or fleas. The world would be a much better place without mosquitoes or fleas. Make it 1002.

Same goes for fleas. It's an entire order, not a single species!

Hey - we have saved quite a few birds and mammals from extinction these past thirty years.

"Saved" is not quite the word. "Almost drove them extinct" is more like it.

Posted by: Silič O'Nopolitanopoulos, Färschdbischuf Beesknees aus Ulm und Klein Elguth, Elector Pharynguline. | July 30, 2010 9:46 PM

Can't we just breed humans to be toxic to mosquitoes? Then natural selection should take care of the problem, right?

Posted by: llewelly | July 30, 2010 11:39 PM

Paul | July 30, 2010 1:33 PM:

Was the Permian extinction violation of trilobite rights?

If the trilobites were capable of thinking about it, they would say yes.^*.

_{^*Of course that doesn't mean they're right. Nonetheless evolution probably favors the belief that one has a right to pass on one's genes, in those creatures capable of such thought.}

Posted by: timpanogos | July 31, 2010 12:33 AM

The idea of eradicating malaria-carrying mosquitoes still arouses a few people, like Richard Tren, Roger Bate, Steven Milloy, and Paul Driessen. So, a couple of times a year each of them erupts with "BRING BACK DDT TO SAVE BABIES."

Of course, DDT, if used to eradicate mosquitoes, also takes every other small arthropod, anything that eats those critters, and continues on up the trophic levels with exponentially-increases doses of the stuff. Ultimately the top predators die out, either by acute poisoning, or by reproductive failure caused by the poison, or a combination.

Meanwhile, ten of the mosquitoes had a mutant gene that made them immune to DDT, and since there was no one left to breed with that didn't have that immunity, now there is a huge population of DDT-immune mosquitoes, and no predators to eat them.

So, three points:

1. Greg Laden is basically right: Curing malaria in humans is the best way to beat the disease -- then mosquitoes would be unable to catch and spread the disease. Non-malarial itching is very temporary.

2. If you want to get an inkling of what would happen if mosquitoes were to die out, look at all those species affected by overuse of DDT. For all we know, eradicating mosquitoes would lead to the death of all bald eagles.

3. In addition to being an impossible goal, attempts to eradicate mosquitoes focus on the wrong part of the disease chain, screw up more systems than you can imagine, and don't work. But it's a popular idea politically, and demagogues will call for it, damn the environment, damn the scientists, damn the human toll.

Rachel Carson was right. Nature ought to know better.

Posted by: John Morales | July 31, 2010 4:16 AM

Entomologista,

You're awesome PZ, but why didn't MPR get one of the many entomologists that I know reside in Minnesota?

Actually, an article just published in Nature suggests that it wouldn't be the worst thing ever if we eliminated mosquitoes.

A war against mosquitoes?

We eliminated the primary screwworm, Cochliomyia hominivorax, from North and Central America without any negative consequences.

And thus, flies have been eradicated? Nice!