They suck for humans, but what % of a critical link are they to their immediate neighbors along the chain?
The Debug FAQ [1] under "Challenges and Impact" actually has a good answer on this that I'll copy below:
> What’s the ecological impact of reducing Aedes aegypti mosquito populations?
> Globally, there are already extensive attempts underway to reduce Aedes aegypti populations in urban environments to protect human health. Aedes aegypti is an invasive species that almost exclusively feeds on humans in order to reproduce. They are native to some parts of Africa, but international trade and other human activity have allowed Aedes aegypti to spread widely. These mosquitoes invade and proliferate in new communities every year, putting more and more people at risk for mosquito-borne diseases.
> The general consensus among scientists is that the ecological impact of removing Aedes aegypti mosquitoes from urban environment would be small. They are not a significant food source for other animals and don't help pollinate crops. The main ecological impact would be to restore the ecosystem to how it was before the mosquitoes invaded.
> For these reasons, the ecological risk of this project is low, particularly when compared to the impact of existing control methods that can be broadly toxic to humans and the environment, and the Debug team is committed to working with communities and regulators to ensure the safety and acceptability of our field trials and releases.
Would introducing bat colonies - kind of like bee hives, which could be moved around serve to help eat some mosquitos?
To put some things in context also, there are 34 millions of new citizens in USA since 2004. We can expected some increase in people bitten just by this. The population had increased therefore the cases also did (but does not explain all the increase)
Some bats are good to hunt mosquitos, some birds are good also, but there are other options. One of them is well known, easy to manage, hard (can starve for weeks), totally silent, harmless and can adapt easily to a human environment: spiders. Would be much much easier to promote than bats.
The other big group is inexplicably neglected, their real role and statistics as mosquito predators are poorly studied, and most people is not even aware of their existence even if they are 100% designed to overpower mosquitoes in its own game. They can fight them in the open air where spiders can't. I'm talking of flies. Some flies are big mosquito killers.
But I bet that most experts on Asilidae struggle each month to find enough funds for keeping their research alive.
I used to use the running trail around our downtown lake frequently and I could hear the bats making sounds above me as I ran under the bridge. Occasionally, I would wonder about those stories of spelunkers getting rabies from just breathing the virus from a large subterranean colony, but thousands of people use Austin’s most popular running trail with apparently no ill effects from the close proximity to so many bats.
[1] https://www.cnn.com/videos/travel/2017/07/28/with-me-as-your...
There still could be knock-on effects from removing them, but restricting it to the human-biting species might mitigate that.
I admit I don't know if that's true of all species or in all locations.
The 1% of mosquito species which do can fuck off and die, as they’re literally responsible for killing tens of billions of humans.
Seriously, we do a lot of damage to this world, but eradicating human blood suckers wouldn’t be one of them.
I have never been bitten by a mosquito anywhere along the coast near the ocean and certainly not in any of the dryer/desert areas. I've spent a lot of time in the Mojave and other parts of SoCal, it's far too dry. Rattlesnake bites while hiking are a far greater concern of mine than mosquito bites, there are simply _zero_ mosquitoes in my daily life, it's a complete non-issue.
The midwest is where I grew up, so I know what it means to have the outdoors made hostile by mosquitoes. It was relatively trivial to move to greener pastures, and I'm glad to have found absence of mosquitoes was one of the rewards.
I react awfully to mosquito bites, and absolutely detest them and it's a big part of what keeps me from visiting home now that I prefer to spend so much time outdoors.
The simple fact is there are pros to California's perma-drought condition.
And also "it's a big part of what keeps me from visiting home now".
Surely you see how maybe some people would like to visit home, etc.
Also displayed in this thread, there are people ignorant of the possibility of simply moving somewhere no mosquitoes exist - operating under the assumption that it's unavoidable. Indeed, prior to my leaving the midwest, I had no idea there were places people could enjoy nights being active outside year-round without insect bites.
Obviously everyone is going to have different priorities, for many mosquitoes are a minor inconvenience sufficiently mitigated with bug spray and candles. I assume those people wouldn't be willing to move to escape them, but I presume they also wouldn't be vehemently raging about extincting the species as a priority.
I'm here to tell you - yes, you can move to such places, and it's not even particularly difficult or costly. There's _plenty_ of incredibly affordable desert land in California, where there are effectively no mosquitoes. If moving is too inconvenient for you, buy a recreational desert property and vacation there! It's that cheap. The fall-winter climate is ideal and remains good into the spring, there's no humidity, and of course - no mosquitoes!
Or don't make any changes in your life, and fill yourself with rage about the environment you find yourself in, as if that's going to help.
Maybe your diet/genetics/clothing choices are just not as attractive to the mosquitoes in your area - I've seen huge differences in mosquito attention between individuals within a group.
It's also typical that reaction to mosquito bites decreases with age after adolescence (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2571626) so maybe you moved as your reaction to mosquito bites disappeared (and maybe you can visit home again).
The last time I experienced mosquitoes in California was camping in a rainforest. I am not immune or unattractive to them, they are quite attracted to me.
But I'm also not putting myself in residential areas that would be desert if not for the constant irrigation. You're certainly able to find places with mosquitoes if you're looking for them - why would you do that if you're averse to them?