• Dabundis@lemmy.world
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    17 days ago

    If we were to somehow magically remove mosquitos from existence in an instant, we’d better hope something fills their ecological niche quickly

    • shalafi@lemmy.world
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      17 days ago

      Nothing eats them exclusively, that I know of. And they’re tiny. Any insectivore is getting far more nutrition out of about anything else.

      Maybe I’m wrong, but biologists seem to think eradication is a non-issue.

    • smeg@feddit.uk
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      17 days ago

      I think the purpose of the original genetic modification is to make them unable to bite humans (and spread malaria) but to otherwise leave them capable of feeding, thus not wiping them out and upsetting the ecosystem they’re part of

      • Dabundis@lemmy.world
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        17 days ago

        The niche being food for fish that share their ecosystem in larval stages, and birds/bats/frogs that share their ecosystem in their adult stage.