Can Mosquitos Really Be Pollinators?

After scratching at the itchy welts left on our skin from their bites, many of us have wondered why mosquitoes should not simply be eradicated from the face of the Earth. Even though some of us realize these annoying insects provide food for bats and other species, it is difficult to convince most people that mosquitoes should be treated with anything but disdain. Well known for its role as a disease-spreader and usually believed to be nothing more than a pest, the mosquito is in fact one of the lesser-known garden pollinators.

Yes, these same insects, which is actually a type of fly, can transmit heartworm, malaria, and West Nile virus, but can also serve as pollinators in our gardens. While you may be well aware of the factors that attract mosquitoes to your yard such as standing water and tall grass, you may not realize that they also actively seek out flowers. Although female mosquitoes draw blood to obtain the resources they need to reproduce, both the male and female insects rely on nectar from plant blooms.

Mosquitoes do not just feed on nectar – it is their primary source of food. Since mosquitoes are drawn to carbon dioxide, these insects actively search for flowering plants after dusk for sips of nectar when they are producing more of the gas. Mosquitoes actually utilize their proboscises, the same mouthparts used to draw blood, to drink the nectar from the flowers. The pollen then sticks to mosquitoes as they fly from flower-to-flower, inadvertently helping the plants to reproduce.

In addition to pollinating flowering plants, mosquitoes are renowned for their ability to pollinate orchids, notably the blunt leaf orchid (Platanthera obtusata). However, this flower is not the only recipient of these surprising eco-system servants; mosquitoes also help to pollinate goldenrods and grasses. Now that you know that they do more than bite us and spread disease, it may or may not make you think twice before killing mosquitoes. Perhaps you could even give these pesky insects some credit? However, you still need to protect yourself by applying insect repellant and adding mosquito dunks to any standing water you may have in your yard.