Mosquitoes are often considered a nuisance to humans, but they do serve a purpose in the ecosystem. Here are some of the purposes that mosquitoes serve:

• Pollination: Mosquitoes are pollinators, and their primary food source is flower nectar, not blood. Just like bees or butterflies, mosquitoes transfer pollen from flower to flower as they feed on nectar, fertilizing plants and allowing them to form seeds and reproduce.

• Food source: Mosquitoes are part of the food web, serving as important prey in both winged adult and aquatic larval form for a lot of other wildlife from dragonflies and turtles to bats and birds—including hummingbirds, which rely on small flying insects and spiders as a primary food source.

• Biomass: Mosquitoes form an important source of biomass in the food chain—serving as food for fish as larvae and for birds, bats and frogs as adult flies—and some species are important pollinators.

Its worth noting that not all mosquito species bite humans, and only some species are considered pests. Out of the more than 3,500 mosquito species, only around 400 can transmit diseases like malaria and West Nile virus to people, and most don’t feed on humans at all.