There are roughly 4,500 described species of cockroaches and only about 25 are considered to be pests. The rest are extremely beneficial insects in a variety of ecosystems.

Most species of cockroaches live in tropical or subtropical habitats, where they feed on organic material of all sorts. Consequently, cockroaches play a valuable role in decomposing things like leaves and animal faeces. In addition, they also become food for other animals and some pollinate flowers. So cockroaches are very beneficial.

They are also beneficial for medical research on the effects of chemicals and radiation on nerves.

Entomologists in South Texas have reported finding cockroaches eating the eggs of the cotton bollworm. The bollworm is a moth in the adult stage. In the caterpillar stage, the insect is a caterpillar that feeds on and damages the cotton plant. So anything that eliminates the eggs helps keep the damaging caterpillar population down.

Entomologists refer to cockroaches as "nuisance pests." This means that the insect doesn't do really bad things like mosquitoes that transmit disease organisms, plant pests that destroy crops or some termites that consume wood in structures. Cockroaches just foul their surroundings and some produce an odour. And cockroaches are very difficult to eliminate once a population is established. Consequently, some humans hate cockroaches probably more than any other animal but they have no real reason to hate them.

What good are cockroaches?

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