The purpose of some insects

I've often wondered what the purpose of some insects are.

Bees (among other insects and birds) pollinate plants and such.
Spiders are insect population control.
And there are other known examples.

However ... what are the purpose of:
a) cockroaches
b) earwigs (pincher bugs)

Geez, now that I created this thread, I can't think of others I have asked my husband about. Brain fart.

What are some insects you have wondered "what the heck is their purpose other than to annoying the heck out of us?"

Most of those types of insects are "waste control". Earwigs in particular I'm not sure of, but roaches, and most of the little creepy crawlies, dispose of allot of organic waste. Dead animals and plant matter. The ecological cleanup crew. It obviously various insect to insect, but that is a primary role of allot of them.

Cockroaches do waste control? They don't seem to do a good job of it in some of the places I've seen infested with them. LOL.

Haha that is true beyre, but think about what they eat - pretty much anything remotely edible or biodegradable, right? In the wild they thrive because they can and do eat all the things that most other organisms make it a point to stay away from. They're just opportunists - if they find a way into a house, it's like a free buffet. They can eat all they want, make all the babies they want, free of charge! No competition, no predators if they're good at hiding, and virtually endless supplies...unfortunately for the humans, hahaha.

Well, cockroaches, like rats, have completely evolved and changed to live off of humans in allot of places. Give them a warm house, with dark, damp places inside walls, and they reproduce like crazy. And they are part of a larger cleanup crew in the wild, the rest of which do not move into human homes en mass the way roaches do. You need other beetles, sowbugs, earthworms, etc... To completely clean up everything, which don't adapt to human habitations as well.

Everything is a part of the food chain or environmental chain. Especially small creatures such as insects. Most of them are food for some kind of animals, and they do chew on plants, leftover, dead animals, garbage, etc. They have their place. Most of the insects are around much longer than humans.

Beyre, Now that you mentioned it I have one to add to your list. In our area we have been overwhelmed by lady bugs. Not the native ones, those cute little red ones with black dots, nor is it the muli-colored, orange, yellow , red and black Asian ladybugs.

But a newer type of Asian ladybug that is said to have accidentlly arrived in New Orlean's from an Asian freightner. This ladybug has appeared in great numbers, by the thousands, through-out our area and in other states as well. It is darker in color and is a big nuisance in homes for when the temperatures drop and these beetles enter homes and buildings, by means of flattening themselves and crawling through very small crevices in search of a place to hibernate.


Unlike native ladybugs, who become inactive during cold months, these beetles,in a warm home become very active. They leave a sticky yellow trail behind themselves when they crawl, which is their blood. This blood also contains a substance called pheromones that is the beetles means of communication with other ones during mating and hibernation. It helps other ladybugs find each other and tells future generations of a good spot to winter-over. If frightened or squashed, this substance has a very bad stinky smell.

Normally ladybugs eat insects smaller than themselves, that are soft-bodied and sap-sucking insects like aphids and mealybugs, and spider mites. The larvae can eat up to 5000 aphids. In the springtime, adult native ladybugs seek food and then lay eggs in aphid colonies. Eggs hatch in 3-5 days and larvae feed for 2-3 weeks, then pupate on plant stems. Adult ladybugs emerge in 7-10 days. In the fall they seek areas to hibernate.

Again, unlike the native species that do not bite or sting or carry human disease, nor feed on wool or clothing or food, this newer type nuisance Asian ladybug bites and eats plants. The USDA, claims they do not know how it arrived in our area. However, the idea of them being carried long distances by hurricanes and other storms is a real possibility.

Does this sound like a guest you might like to have stay the winter with you? lol

Thanks for sharing all this but i didn't want these insects near me whatever the benefits they are having. May be they helps in waste control, they should stay in their holes far from humans it's better for both.

I grew up in Malaysia and in the tropics we are used to all manner of exotic insects, some of them being not so pleasant. I am familiar with the ladybug you mentioned. In Asia there are certain types of birds similar to European flycatchers that eat them. I would imagine that in a new environment like in Louisiana, there would not be any natural predators so it would be inevitable that their numbers would expand greatly. I am sure these insects were either introduced by accident or else blown there by some freak storm or hurricane.

I really do not know the solution to this problem. Like the snakehead fish (which is also found in Malaysia), if this problem is not contained, these ladybugs will no doubt spread and wreak havoc on North America's ecosystems.

I am wondering too about it,most of the time i called them pest where they are really destroying some stuff which i don't really like.

Even the nastiest insects have their place in the ecosystem. It is human internvention that causes problems. Agriculture on a big scale allows certain pests to thrive, so pest control is needed. Buildings provide warmth and food for other pests that would originally have survived in caves or warm spots.

Insects are also the natural food supply for other creatures. Some animal and bird species could become extinct if the insects they feed on were to be elmininated. Even plants die out when insects become rare. There is a type of orchid that relies solely on a certain type of butterfly, and those buttlerfly numbers have decreased due to other ecological reasons.