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Extremely Rare Cockroaches Are Excellent Pollinators

Extremely Rare Cockroaches Are Excellent Pollinators

The worst aspect of living in any big city is all of the roaches that you will inevitably encounter. Roaches are not beloved creatures, but the world has many different species of cockroach crawling around, and not all of them are out to eat the leftovers in your sink, or catch a juicy glimpse in your shower. Unlike many of the roaches that you find in the big city, some roach species are not drawn to urban areas. Believe it or not, there are some types of roaches that are content in the wild, and not only that, but some roaches can even pollinate flowers. And you thought that only pretty and majestic-looking insects pollinated flowers.

As it turns out, the existence of roaches is more important to the world than keeping exterminators employed. For example, ninety nine percent of the worlds forty five hundred different species of cockroach thrive in wild regions, such as rainforests and even deserts. Most roaches are not pests at all, but are actually valuable members of various ecosystems.  But, however valuable some roaches may be to the environments in which they thrive, it is rare to find a roach that pollinates plants, but the Moluchia brevipennis does just that. These roaches are native to central Chile’s scrublands, and they are often found on the tops of flowers.

Roaches that are capable of pollination are extremely rare. At this time there are only two types of roaches that have been observed pollinating plants. One of these roach species is found in French Guiana, and the other is found in Malaysian Borneo. Between the years of 2000 and 2016, there have only been one hundred and seventy eight studies that focused on one of these pollinating roaches. This is compared the tens of thousands of studies conducted on bees or ants in that same amount of time. As of now, these pollinating roaches are understudied, but it is nice to know that some roaches are good for something.

Do you know of any other types of insects that can pollinate flowers, but people would never guess so?

 

 

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