Never take mosquitoes so lightly. They are not just small insects. In fact, they make significant contributions to the global economy. If it weren’t for them, so many of our products that are flourishing in the market would not have been heard of.
Sting operations are nothing new to mosquitoes. They have been at it for ages. However, unlike television journalists, they announce their arrival ahead of their operations, with their war cries that create quite a buzz in our ears!
Mosquitoes are no different from human beings. No wonder they work in shifts. Some work during the day while others are active at night. Believe it or not, some of them really love their night outs just like us! The mosquitoes that do the night shift pack up early and are ready to leave at the sight of the first rays of sunlight. Those are the ones that you find battering against your window panes in the morning.
For some reason, mosquitoes love the dark. And, they love the black colour. If they find you gossiping with your friends and you happen to be wearing black clothes, they would most likely be attracted to you more than the others. If you stand under a lamppost at night, the colour of your hair—black—attracts them most. That is why you find them hovering over your head. In fact, you may unwittingly attract a swarm of mosquitoes by wearing black clothes.
Mosquitoes have wings but they are not birds. They are not birds because they are insects.
I consider mosquitoes to be the tiniest nuisance of the animal kingdom! If there are tinier life forms with more nuisance value, I have no clue about them. They just don’t exist in my dictionary!
Mosquitoes are blood suckers. But, if you look at it from another angle, they were the ones who taught us the science of blood transfusion! Mosquitoes suck blood from one body and inject it into the blood streams of another. Man has domesticated many animals. But he is yet to train mosquitoes. Just imagine how useful mosquitoes could be! If we could train mosquitoes to suck blood from blood donors and inject it into the veins of recipients, we could do away with the services of doctors and nurses for transfusion. Mosquitoes know where to inject blood. It is a matter of instinct for them. They can be trusted never to miss the vein!
In fact, we could use mosquitoes for other injection assignments as well. By doing that, we could also save on the cost of disposable syringes. But, they could be dangerous because they may be sucking blood from birds and animals and injecting them into our veins. If you have the magnanimity to let them inject blood into your bloodstream, you may be aghast when you learn that they deliver the choicest of viruses along with that for free.
They consider human blood a delicacy and they keep sucking till their bellies threaten to go bust. Sometimes, they overfeed and sucked so much blood that it made them unwieldy in flight. If you hit them when they are blood-laden, their bellies burst and blood spurts in all directions.
The Chinese have developed several martial art forms based on animals. For instance, they have monkey style, tiger style, snake style, and so on and so forth. But they seem to have missed the smallest and the most effective stinger—the mosquito. However, India produced the world’s smallest jet fighter and named it ‘Gnat’ which is another name for a mosquito.
We curse mosquitoes day in and day out. But the numerous products designed to keep mosquitoes at bay or to kill them must be making manufacturers and traders happy. They may even be making offerings to god to help them bring about an explosion in the mosquito population! Some of them may be secretly worshipping them. You never know, someday mosquitoes may even be worshipped as deities!
Out of the 2,700 species of mosquitoes in the world, fewer than a hundred are known to transmit diseases. Arboviral encephalitis, West Nile Virus, Malaria, Dengue and Yellow Fever are prominent among the many diseases they are believed to spread. But that is enough to keep so many industries in business. However, it must be admitted in their praise that they do not carry the HIV virus that causes AIDS.
In normal times, electric mosquito repellent machines using perfumed mats and liquid vaporizers are used. These call for frequent replacement of mats and liquid refills. And, then, there are mosquito killer bulbs and electronic insect killers. These gadgets consume electricity on a regular basis. Racquets that look like tennis racquets are also used for killing mosquitoes. They work on rechargeable batteries that need to be charged from time to time. And, then, there are electronic or electric insect killers that are usually installed in restaurants. These gadgets engage the power sector as also our electric and electronic industries.
Some people prefer to use mosquito nets since they have no side effects. And, they do not need any refills. They need not be replaced until they get torn. So, the demand for mosquito nets is increasing day by day. They benefit the textile and handicrafts industries. Some others use incense sticks to drive away mosquitoes. There are some who use mosquito repellent creams. Those who use creams need to wash their face and body with soap when they get up in the morning or when they return home after an outing. That helps the cosmetics industry.
As a preventive measure, DDT is sprinkled on the breeding colonies of mosquitoes that are scattered over water-sheets of different sizes and shapes though it has become more or less ineffective. Mosquitoes seem to have developed tolerance for this chemical. And, then, there is mosquito spray which is a petroleum-based aerosol insecticide. In some cases, kerosene is used to prevent mosquito breeding in stagnant water such as the water found in water tanks, desert coolers etc. So, that ropes in the petroleum and chemical industries.
Just one mosquito droning over you can give you sleepless nights. They say mosquitoes could spur even the laziest of lazy bugs into active mode! Some people take sleeping pills to grab some sleep. And, there’s quinine and a whole assortment of medicines that are prescribed for diseases transmitted by mosquitoes that form the backbone of our pharmaceutical industry. And, don’t forget the meshed doors and windows we install at our homes to keep the mosquitoes out! That engages the metal and wood industry.
But, if you don’t want to use any of these, you can just apply soap on your palms and swat the mosquitoes with your hands. Even if you manage to barely touch the mosquitoes while you are swatting, the mosquitoes will stick to your hand!
Mosquitoes have created vacancies for a variety of positions in clinics, dispensaries and hospitals. In other words, they create employment opportunities in health centers and municipal bodies.
There is so much medical research going on because of diseases transmitted by mosquitoes. There are so many shops selling medicines to prevent or cure diseases caused by mosquitoes. Mosquitoes are the reason behind employment of many medical scientists, chemists, and health workers.
Mosquitoes have single handily generated a lot of employment, income and business. It is because of them that so many of our industries are in business. We may not appreciate this and our finance ministry may not attach too much importance to this. But mosquitoes make a significant contribution to our Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the nations and to their economic growth. In short, they contribute to the world economy!
