Are Mosquitoes ‘A Necessary Evil’?

Abstract

There are around 3,500 species of mosquitoes all over the world, of which only a couple of hundred species are responsible for various diseases and deaths. However, the general perception in the society is that all mosquitoes are responsible for incalculable misery of human and animal life causing millions of death hindering social and economic development; mosquitoes should be eliminated from planet earth. On the other hand, mosquitoes are found to be important biotic components playing various ecological roles. They act as predator or prey in different food chains and play the role as pollinator and environmental filter. Mosquitoes might have some role as an indirect selection agent for population regulation. Mosquitoes’ role must be evaluated in greater ecological and evolutionary perspectives before appreciating and adopting the policy of mosquito eradication programme, if any. A couple of hundred mosquito species is definitely ‘evil’ to humans, albeit rest of the members of the mosquito world might be ‘necessary’ in the nature. This review is an attempt to explore the ecological roles of mosquitoes and their importance in different ecosystems.