Pests Do More for Us Than You Think

Bees, butterflies, and moths are typically beloved images of what we commonly know to be pollinators. However, the insects we often look at with distaste — those like mosquitoes, wasps, and flies — are actually also important pollinators in their own right. 

Bees and the like are incredibly critical to ecosystems, providing plants and crops we rely on with the pollen they need to reproduce. However, it’s also important to shed light on the other creatures that affect our environments, ones we often try to get rid of because of their reputation. 

They do a lot more than incessantly annoy us by supporting plant reproduction through plant pollination worldwide. In honor of national Pollinator Week, here are some less appreciated pollinators and the surprising benefits they have for ecosystems around the world. 

Over-Hated Garden Dwellers 

Flies are famously disliked in households worldwide.They’re often considered a nuisance, not doing much other than buzzing around where you don’t want them to. Surprisingly, despite how we see them, it’s actually been determined that flies are the second-most important pollinators, right after bees. 

The fact is flies are necessary for the health of plant populations across the world, including crops — According to a research article published by biology researchers from the University of Exeter, they visit around 72% of global food crops, cross-pollinating between plants and ensuring reproductive success.

Flies are incredibly diverse, species and habitat wise. Hoverflies are a specific family of flies, made up of over 6,000 different species, as detailed by a 2024 University of Georgia field report. They can be found on and across various continents. These flies play a valuable role in pollination and pest control, as they frequently visit flowering plants and naturally prey on destructive pests like aphids. 

A 2019 study observed hoverfly migration in and out of England and continental Europe, reporting billions of hoverflies seasonally migrating. The massive numbers of flies leads to significant pollination across land-masses, and this redistribution of pollen supports the reproduction of plants, including popular crops like sweet peppers, strawberries and onions. 

Certain types of flies can also be major players in the creation of beloved foods like chocolate. Tiny flies known as midges are the sole pollinator of cacao trees, making them critical to the chocolate industry. Cacao flowers, which have small, intricate openings, can only be entered by midges due to their miniscule size. 

Even with midges, due to the complex nature of the plant and its reproduction process, only 10-20% of the flowers actually get pollinated. Without midges pollinating cocoa flowers, the plants would be unable to produce the seedpods used to make chocolate.

 In short: no flies, no chocolate. 

A Common Menace 

People tend to live in terror of wasps. To some, even the sight of a nest’s stalk being built is a sign to call the exterminator. Of course, this isn’t unfounded, considering that wasps are notorious for being aggressive. What’s lesser known about them, however, is their tropical family members’ prominence as specialist pollinators, that focus on pollinating a narrow variety of plant species. 

Many of these plants are important in their own right: Figs are a well-known and well-loved fruit, of which there are almost nine hundred different species. They’re more than just fruits, though. Figs actually act as a keystone species, due to the significant number of animals and insects that depend on them for sustenance year-round. A 2018 study even documented that certain species of figs can help support declining bird populations, by providing them with a reliable source of food. 

Fig wasps are a small, often overlooked species of wasp. The two native to the United States are unnoticed to the point that they have no common name, only a scientific one: Pegoscapus. Figs and Fig wasps have a mutualistic relationship, meaning that both species generally benefit from their exchanges, though a first glance might say otherwise.

When a fig’s flowers (which are actually inside the fruit) are ready to reproduce, they attract female wasps, who crawl into the fruit through a small opening— it’s so small that while entering, the wasp will lose its wings. As the wasp crawls around to lay its eggs, it spreads the pollen it collected from the previous fig it was in. The flowers can then reproduce while the wasp, done with its job, dies within the fig.

While it sounds like a morbid exchange, it allows the wasp’s eggs to grow in a safe environment where they can hatch before continuing the cycle. This relationship maintains both populations and indirectly supports other species who rely on figs. 

Not all wasp pollination requires the death of the insect, however. Other species of wasps promote pollination the same way many other pollinators, including flies, do — they feed on nectar to support their energy levels, landing on flowers and collecting pollen in the process. As they travel from plant to plant, the collected pollen is transferred between flowers, fertilizing their seeds. This is commonly known as “incidental pollination”, a process butterflies and moths also take part in. 

The World’s Most Hated Insect 

It’s a well-known fact that mosquitoes are widely hated, and not without good reason. One particular species of mosquito, Aedes aegypti, might well be one of the most dangerous insects in the world, as a past carrier of yellow fever and the Zika virus. 

However, like any other creature, there’s a large diversity of species within the mosquito family, and some can actually be beneficial to both humans and the environment. There are around 3,500 species of mosquitoes documented worldwide, and only about 3% of those species are able to transmit diseases. 

Take, for example, the elephant mosquito, or Toxorhychites rutilius, which is found across a broad range of the southeastern United States. Rather than feeding on our blood, these giant, colorful creatures prefer plant nectar, pollen, and even the larva of other mosquitoes, and as they buzz from meal to meal, they pollinate flowers along the way, collecting and transferring pollen between the plants that host the substances they feed on. 

Another type of mosquito, Aedes Communis, commonly known as a snow pool mosquito, is a critical pollinator of blunt-leaf orchids. Found across the North of the United States, Alaska, and Canada, this mosquito does feed on blood to sustain the development of its eggs, but it also commonly feeds on nectar.

 As it feeds, it collects pollen from one flower and transfers it to the stigma of another, effectively pollinating the orchids and allowing them to reproduce. Blunt-leaf orchids are also important to ecosystems — they often indicate the presence of the many protected species they grow in tandem with. 

Now, it’s important to note that the details about mosquito pollination are still being studied, and there’s not much concrete information about what their pollination patterns, preferences, and effectiveness are just yet. That being said, researchers have drawn tentative conclusions about mosquitoes being potential nocturnal pollinators, due to their observations of significant mosquito presence around flowers at nighttime, rather than during the day.

 Professor Helen J. Young conducted a study that blocked flowers from pollination during daylight and evening hours, and found that the flowers that only received nocturnal pollinators (which operate similar to mosquitoes) produced twice as many seeds.

So, while we’re still learning about mosquito pollination, it’s safe to say that they do have a purpose other than just spreading disease and generally annoying people. 

The Surprising Reality

Not all of the insects we know as “pests” are deserving of that title. Flies, wasps, and mosquitoes are just a fraction of the thousands of non-bee pollinators that exist and are essential to plants around the world. An estimated 35% of global food crops and 75% of the world’s flowering plants rely on pollinators to be able to reproduce and continue population growth. 

While some insects are certainly a threat to gardens and human health, there are many that are wrongly implicated, ones our environments would be substantially different without. We don’t have to forgive all of them, but maybe we can learn to appreciate the ones that deserve it. 

Additionally, the unfortunate truth is that pollinators of all kinds are being threatened by issues such as climate change, pesticide use, habitat loss, and disease. That’s not a fact you have to just accept, though. There’s plenty each of us can do to support our local pollinators, and a great way to start is by getting involved with National Pollinator Week. Be sure to also check out additional resources like the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and our own bee conservation tool-kit. 

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