Unlike what one might think, mosquitoes are not useless: even these annoying insects, in fact, participate in the balance of the ecosystem .
As for the food chain, they play an important role: larvae feed small aquatic animals (such as fish and amphibians), while adult insects provide an important food resource for bats, birds, spiders, lizards, salamanders and frogs .
In turn, mosquitoes feed on tree sap and flower nectar, participating in pollination . At least two species of the Orchid family, of the genus Platanthera, benefit from it. Only the females of the insect are hematophagous (that is they feed on blood) when they have to get the nutrients to make the eggs mature; during the rest of their lives they feed on the substances found in nature just like the males.
