I am gonna look like the kind of tumblr user with no reading comprehension who is accidentally being exactly who this post is talking about but I assure you I know exactly what I'm doing and am disagreeing for one species and one species only

If it were possible I'd absolutely support driving fleas to extinction. Make a case for their existence! Why do fleas deserve to exist? They cause me daily suffering and serve zero purpose that I am aware of. Why can't we make them go extinct other than the fact that it would probably be difficult to only target fleas

"one species and one species only"

[transcript: flea, the common name for the order Siphonaptera, includes 2,500 species. end transcript]

you might want to do a little bit of research about the organisms you want to drive to extinction before you claim to know exactly what you're doing, but anyway...

there are already a number of people in the notes bringing up these points, which apply to all species, but here they are again anyway:

firstly, nothing has to have "a purpose", but things don't just evolve for no reason and contribute absolutely nothing to the ecosystem they're in. that's just not how it works.

secondly, parasites are basically the Robin Hood of the ecosystems they're in. they take nutrients from large, long lived organisms, and make it available for smaller organisms, thereby redistributing nutrients that would essentially get hoarded away otherwise.

yes, being bitten is annoying, but we can't just kill off everything that annoys us. in fact, parasites being annoying causes their hosts to leave the area, which affects things like migration routes, and helps prevent areas being overgrazed because the megafauna leave due to the parasites before that can happen.

yes, parasites can spread diseases, but it's much more productive and less harmful to ecosystems to put money and effort towards curing and preventing those diseases than trying to kill off their vectors.

everything in an ecosystem (with the exception of introduced species) has evolved together and adapted to each others' presence. you can't just remove an entire species from that complex, interconnected system and expect there to be no negative repercussions

All this plus most of those species won't bite humans anyway. Still, causing irritation to just humans shouldn't be a crime. We're destructive too. We shouldn't want all of nature to be safe and comfortable to us when we've already irreversibly razed so much of it for modern convenience as it is. We even probably caused the extinction of the last big predators that naturally hunted us, we should probably be satisfied with that really.

There are over 3500 species of mosquito on this planet and every single one of them contributes more to the ecosystem than you do.

@makeela Depends, how bad do you consider complete ecological collapse, the extinction of numerous species from bats to fish to reptiles to large swathes of other insects, massive flora devastation due to losing a large amount of pollinators, and the utter fucking tragedy of driving to extinction THREE THOUSAND AND FIVE HUNDRED UNIQUE SPECIES OF FLY because you are incapable of understanding that the world does not revolve around you?

Please explain what made you think this was an appropriate or acceptable thing to say. This isn’t cute, this isn’t quirky, this is the exact widespread attitude that lead to corporations destroying our environment by spraying pesticides like it was going out of style, cheered on by the public because “bugs are icky”

I am gonna look like the kind of tumblr user with no reading comprehension who is accidentally being exactly who this post is talking about but I assure you I know exactly what I'm doing and am disagreeing for one species and one species only

If it were possible I'd absolutely support driving fleas to extinction. Make a case for their existence! Why do fleas deserve to exist? They cause me daily suffering and serve zero purpose that I am aware of. Why can't we make them go extinct other than the fact that it would probably be difficult to only target fleas

"one species and one species only"

[transcript: flea, the common name for the order Siphonaptera, includes 2,500 species. end transcript]

you might want to do a little bit of research about the organisms you want to drive to extinction before you claim to know exactly what you're doing, but anyway...

there are already a number of people in the notes bringing up these points, which apply to all species, but here they are again anyway:

firstly, nothing has to have "a purpose", but things don't just evolve for no reason and contribute absolutely nothing to the ecosystem they're in. that's just not how it works.

secondly, parasites are basically the Robin Hood of the ecosystems they're in. they take nutrients from large, long lived organisms, and make it available for smaller organisms, thereby redistributing nutrients that would essentially get hoarded away otherwise.

yes, being bitten is annoying, but we can't just kill off everything that annoys us. in fact, parasites being annoying causes their hosts to leave the area, which affects things like migration routes, and helps prevent areas being overgrazed because the megafauna leave due to the parasites before that can happen.

yes, parasites can spread diseases, but it's much more productive and less harmful to ecosystems to put money and effort towards curing and preventing those diseases than trying to kill off their vectors.

everything in an ecosystem (with the exception of introduced species) has evolved together and adapted to each others' presence. you can't just remove an entire species from that complex, interconnected system and expect there to be no negative repercussions

All this plus most of those species won't bite humans anyway. Still, causing irritation to just humans shouldn't be a crime. We're destructive too. We shouldn't want all of nature to be safe and comfortable to us when we've already irreversibly razed so much of it for modern convenience as it is. We even probably caused the extinction of the last big predators that naturally hunted us, we should probably be satisfied with that really.

There are over 3500 species of mosquito on this planet and every single one of them contributes more to the ecosystem than you do.

Friendly reminder that humans are also parasites. And we are an invasive species of parasite as well.

Incorrect on every account. Try not to be an ecofascist on my post thanks

@core-vortex

This isn’t true and is one of the misconceptions this post is about. Please think, for five entire seconds, about how absolutely batshit insane the claim “3,500 species of fly and 850 species of arachnid have no impact on the food web whatsoever” is. Nature doesn’t evolve life for shits and giggles. Mosquitos are vital pollinators. Ticks, like many parasites, balance resources throughout the ecosystem.

Spreading this kind of misinformation uncritically is how you end up with corporations spraying pesticides like its going out of style and causing mass biodiversity death.

Basically every time humans have decided to play god, it leads to a bunch of academic papers in the next decade title “Why Did Anyone Think Playing God Was A Good Idea: The Horrific Impacts”

Is a healthy ecosystem one that is rich in parasites?

From prey to pollinator: Unmasking the diverse ecological roles of mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae)

Parasites boosts biodiversity and changes animal community structure by trait-mediated indirect effects

Parasites, disease and the structure of ecological communities

When parasites become prey: ecological and epidemiological significance of eating parasites

A world without mosquitoes? It’s not as great an idea as it may seem

What Purpose do Mosquitoes Serve?

What Purpose Do Ticks Serve in the Ecosystem?

From bug to drug—tick saliva could be key to treating heart disease

The ecological significance of manipulative parasites.

yes. i do. fuck mosquitos.

>vegan

>wants to drive an entire family of animals to extinction because they dislike them personally

the jokes write themselves folks