Yesterday was World Mosquito Day. Weird much?… This day was first established in 1897, when the link between mosquitoes and malaria transmission was discovered by Sir Ronald Ross. The occasion aims to raise awareness about the causes of malaria and how it can be prevented, as well as fundraising for research into the cure of malaria. It is also a salute to the groundbreaking work of Sir Ross and scientists who have followed him.
Some universities around the world celebrate this day, and one of them is “The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine“, which celebrates World Mosquito Day with exhibitions and parties designed both to entertain and to inform, while other celebrations include Malaria No More’s ‘Mozzy Air’ campaign, encouraging people to take anti-malarial when flying to malaria zones, and Nothing But Nets’ twitter campaigns to provide mosquito nets for poor communities.
Let’s get back to the title of our article, and let’s talk a bit about the benefits of mosquitoes. Do they really have benefits?!! …Jason Bittel mentioned in an article in the National Geographic that “Male mosquitoes eat nectar, making some species major pollinators of plants such as some crops and flowers—even orchids”, adding that “Similarly, mosquitoes of all ages and sexes serve as an food source for all kinds of creatures, such as fish, turtles, dragonflies, migratory songbirds, and bats”.
A public affairs specialist for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says that “For other species, “removing mosquitoes entirely could have consequences we can’t predict.”
The writer also mentioned that “Mosquitoes are the primary vector for malaria, so if they disappeared, malaria certainly would too. According to the World Health Organization, about 438,000 people died from malaria in 2015“, adding that “Similarly, the mosquito species most responsible for the current outbreak of Zika virus are also the primary carriers of dengue virus (22,000 deaths annually) and yellow fever (30,000 deaths annually)”.
The biologist E.O. Wilson once called mosquitoes “the little things that run the world“… are they really that powerful?
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