this post was submitted on 04 Sep 2023
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A major overlooked ecological value of parasites and the diseases they carry is population control. We all hate them and the off chance of getting a serious disease from them, but they do help keep populations of mammals in control. Also, some mosquitoes are pollinators.
Generally, if the question is "Should we eradicate native species?", my answer would be no regardless of species because ecology is extremely complex and we likely will never exactly understand the impact of voluntary species eradication until after we do it.
There are non-native mosquitoes and ticks though, eradication of those should be okay unless maybe if they've been naturalized for a long time. Less severe population control near urban areas is probably the most reasonable compromise between not disturbing native ecology and human comfort.
Then keep a totally self contained population segregated while we find out. Then if we find proof they're absolutely critical for something, reintroduce them. Otherwise, fuck em.