Mosquitos – Friend or Foe?

Have you ever been calmly enjoying the playground, laughing as you try to swing higher than your friends, or race through the tunnel? Then out of nowhere, BAM, you got bit by an annoying mosquito, making you scratch and itch everywhere.

Mosquitos, the menace of the outdoors, seem to just be annoying pests. But, just like everything else in nature, they are important in their own way. Mosquitos have many purposes other than sucking your blood. Mosquitos are a huge food source for small animals like frogs and fish. Without mosquitos, swamp animals and fish would suffer a large loss of their main food sources. This loss of food in the animal food chain would lead up to other animals such as turtles, bats, bass, and even large birds such as geese and ducks. Male mosquitoes also pollinate other plants. 

Now that you see mosquitos are not only pests that bite us, they are also a vital part of the world’s ecosystem. I know it is hard but I hope you will look at them in a different way. These flying insects may be extremely irritating to people, but their impact on the planet is huge. So maybe next time you see one land, give it a chance before you wack it!