Bugs With Mike

Are mosquitoes any good? Can we just get rid of all of them?


Listen Later

Mosquitoes are at best annoying, and at worst deadly.If you look up a list of the world's most hated animals, you're probably going to find mosquitoes on that list, and with good reason.Here in the United States, mosquitoes are mostly just an annoying nuisance with the occasional warning about West Nile or some other mosquito-borne disease. But each year, 1 in 12 people worldwide are infected with a mosquito-borne illness, and about every 45 seconds, someone dies from malaria, a parasite transmitted by mosquitoes.So do mosquitoes have any redeeming qualities? What stops us from completely eradicating them from off the face of the earth? What good are mosquitoes?

00:00 - Introduction 00:38 - Role of mosquitoes in the environment 01:21 - Mosquitoes inspiring medicine and engineering 01:41 - Mosquitoes as vaccinators 04:50 - Should we eradicate all mosquitoes? 06:07 - Should we eradicate only the disease carrying mosquitoes? 07:37 - Which mosquitoes can we get rid of? 07:55 - My verdict

You can find the written version, along with a list of references, here: https://bugswithmike.com/blog/deep-dive/are-mosquitoes-any-good

Follow Mike Snapchat -- https://snapchat.com/add/modelsbymike3d Instagram -- https://www.instagram.com/BugsWithMike/ Twitter -- https://twitter.com/BugsWithMike TikTok -- https://www.tiktok.com/@bugswithmike

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

Bugs With MikeBy Mike Porter

  • 5
  • 5
  • 5
  • 5
  • 5

5

5 ratings


More shows like Bugs With Mike

View all
Stuff You Should Know by iHeartPodcasts

Stuff You Should Know

78,418 Listeners

The Daily by The New York Times

The Daily

112,835 Listeners

The Common Descent Podcast by Common Descent

The Common Descent Podcast

740 Listeners

Ologies with Alie Ward by Alie Ward

Ologies with Alie Ward

24,376 Listeners

You're Dead to Me by BBC Radio 4

You're Dead to Me

3,155 Listeners

Bug Banter with the Xerces Society by The Xerces Society

Bug Banter with the Xerces Society

59 Listeners