If we wiped about mosquitoes, they'd never be missed.

I have no love for mosquitoes, but they love the crap out of me. Well, to be more precise, they love the blood out of me. When I go out in my backyard lately, I get ambushed. Right now, my legs are a hive-y mess that remind me vaguely of when I had chicken pox when I was six. I'm torn between a desire to not scratch, because it only triggers a new wave of horrible, skin-crawling itch, and to basically claw my skin open until I look like raw meat.

Even pain is preferable to a maddening itch.

Now, when I was a little kid, mosquitoes left me the hell alone. I saw them literally hover by me, and take off like I was nothing. Not even chopped liver. What changed? Eh--I got fat and I drink. No, seriously. The way I see it, I'm a big target, exuding lots of CO2, and my skin is probably tasty with cholesterol and uric acid from a pretty burger and beer diet.

So, I know why they like me according to the science, but, here's a good question--why does the world have mosquitoes? I mean, what niche do the serve in the world's ecosystem? I know fish think mosquito larvae are pretty tasty, but really--

Couldn't we do without the little blood-sucking bastards?

It turns out, maybe we can.

There are 3,500 named species of mosquito, of which only a couple of hundred bite or bother humans. They live on almost every continent and habitat, and serve important functions in numerous ecosystems. "Mosquitoes have been on Earth for more than 100 million years," says Murphy, "and they have co-evolved with so many species along the way." Wiping out a species of mosquito could leave a predator without prey, or a plant without a pollinator. And exploring a world without mosquitoes is more than an exercise in imagination: intense efforts are under way to develop methods that might rid the world of the most pernicious, disease-carrying species (see 'War against the winged').

Yet in many cases, scientists acknowledge that the ecological scar left by a missing mosquito would heal quickly as the niche was filled by other organisms. Life would continue as before — or even better. When it comes to the major disease vectors, "it's difficult to see what the downside would be to removal, except for collateral damage", says insect ecologist Steven Juliano, of Illinois State University in Normal. A world without mosquitoes would be "more secure for us", says medical entomologist Carlos Brisola Marcondes from the Federal University of Santa Catarina in Brazil. "The elimination of Anopheles would be very significant for mankind."

I know, just because we don't see any unintended consequences doesn't mean there wouldn't be any. But on the other hand, after watching these spindly-legged rat finks pierce my epidermis despite DEET, OFF! Patchouli oil, citronella, and a host of other things, stinky and pleasant, trying to ward them off, I really could contemplate biological warfare.

Damn. I'd probably have malaria right now if it wasn't for the vodka tonics.....