I’ve wondered this and would be interested in seeing something similar for screwworms as well, if you ever get around to estimating that.
I did some quick calculations about this which suggest it is unclear whether eradicating screwworms is beneficial or harmful. If they have positive lives, I think the decrease in welfare caused by them not existing may well outweight the increase in welfare of the animals which would no longer be infected by them.
I’m also curious to know why you chose the same median welfare range as black soldier flies. Is this just the best guess you had, or is there a reason that mosquitoes would have similar experiences to them?
Thanks, @Nithin Ravi[1]. I have added the following to the post.
Mosquitoes belong to the order Diptera, and black soldier flies are the only species analysed by RP of that order.
I tried to get a better estimate, but without success.
I asked Bob Fischer, who led RP’s moral weight project, about a best guess for the median welfare range of mosquitoes that RP would have obtained if they had analysed them. I privately disclaimed I would publish this post without Bob’s guess, but Bob did not share one.
Thanks for the comment too, Nithin.
I did some quick calculations about this which suggest it is unclear whether eradicating screwworms is beneficial or harmful. If they have positive lives, I think the decrease in welfare caused by them not existing may well outweight the increase in welfare of the animals which would no longer be infected by them.
Thanks, @Nithin Ravi[1]. I have added the following to the post.
I tried to get a better estimate, but without success.
I am tagging you because I am expanding the comment starting with this sentence.