Why do bugs even exist?

One of the questions we get most often is, "Why does this bug exist? What is it even good for?" Humans often wonder why mosquitoes, wasps, spiders, and other creepy-crawlies are worth having around. All they do is sting or bite or eat your gardens, right? Wrong! We all have very important roles to play in keeping the environment healthy.

Spiders

These web-spinners are often the first critters to get kicked out of the house due to fear of deadly bites, but in North America, there are only two types of spiders that are dangerous to humans, and they don't like to live close to you! Spiders have a very important job both inside your house and outside in nature. As predators, they hunt bugs on foot or catch flying bugs in their webs, meaning there are fewer flies, mosquitoes, and other pests around to ruin your home and garden. The great news is, they don't like the taste of human, so they will never bite you on purpose...only by accident if they get smooshed against your skin and feel threatened! In the wild, spiders play a similar role. They help keep bug populations in check so that no one species grows out of control and eats everyone else's food!

Did you know that spider silk is really strong? It also has unique properties that researchers believe could be used to make all sorts of new fabrics and engineering materials!

Wasps

If you've ever been stung by a wasp, it might seem hard to forgive them! The good news is, wasps don't actually want to sting you; they do not gain any benefit from stinging, nor do they enjoy doing it. Just like spiders only bite when they're cornered, wasps only sting if they think you are trying to hurt them or their nest. This might happen if you swat at them or brush against a plant containing their nest. If left alone, they're great friends to have around!

You might see wasps a lot around your garden, and this is because they're trying to help it grow! Wasps are very good mothers, and spend a lot of time picking hungry caterpillars and other pests off of your flowers to feed their babies. While they visit the flowers, they also pollinate them! In fact, some fruits like figs are only able to be pollinated by wasps, and the trees would not set fruit without their help!

Wasps are actually very intelligent. They can recognize the faces of their nest-mates, as well as the faces of the humans that live around them—one more reason to treat them kindly!

Mosquitoes

We know, we know...mosquito bites itch! We bugs can't imagine how uncomfortable that must be for you, but we can tell you why mosquitoes are important. Unfortunately for the mosquito, their most important role in nature is as food for other animals. Bats, birds, fish, and other bugs all fill their bellies with mosquitoes every day. Because there are so many of them, they are an easy meal to find!

You might not know this, but mosquitoes are also pollinators. Only female mosquitoes need to drink blood to help grow their eggs, but both male and female mosquitoes drink nectar most of the time. When they land on flowers to feed, they carry pollen around with them!

Mosquito larvae are also great at cleaning up. Young mosquitoes grow up in ponds and puddles, where they eat decaying material in the water and help keep it clean.

There is a lot of debate amongst human scientists about whether the disappearance of mosquitoes would really have a lasting effect on the planet. Personally, we'll wait to see what they find!

Bottom Line

Here's the thing: all life on Earth has its place. A plant, animal, or bug can only evolve to live in the environment around it. If a bug exists, that means it fills a specific need or plays a role in the environment. This special role is called a "niche." Bugs fill all sorts of niches— spiders are predators that keep other bug populations in check; wasps pollinate plants while hunting down plant pests; and almost every bug is food for other animals. The role a bug plays might not be immediately obvious to humans because they get no direct benefit; but ultimately, most of the things humans need to survive are available because of bugs! Your crops would not set fruit without the help of bugs to pollinate them; your dog's poop would stink up the yard without bugs to break it down; many medicines would not exist if not for the contribution of bugs to research; and there would be no chicken nuggets if the chickens had no bugs to eat! These vital services that other organisms provide to humans are called "ecosystem services."

Next time you find yourself wondering why a bug or other critter exists, try to imagine how other organisms (including you!) might feel if that bug went away!