8 Insects Everyone Hates Until They Learn Their Surprising Biology

A Quartz feature highlights eight commonly disliked insects—cockroaches, mosquitoes, parasitoid wasps, silverfish, earwigs, dung beetles, bed bugs, and termites—and reveals their remarkable biological traits. Cockroaches have existed for 320-350 million years, predating dinosaurs, and possess a generalized survival strategy. Mosquitoes, despite being the deadliest animal to humans due to disease transmission, have a sophisticated proboscis and males feed on nectar, pollinating some orchids. Parasitoid wasps lay eggs inside hosts, with larvae consuming non-essential tissue first, and are used in biological pest control. Silverfish are primitive wingless insects with a 400-million-year lineage and can survive up to a year without food. Earwigs exhibit maternal care and their pincers are too weak to break human skin; the myth of them entering ears is unfounded. Dung beetles perform vital waste management and some navigate by the Milky Way. Bed bugs have coevolved with humans for tens of thousands of years and show insecticide resistance, driving research into heat treatment. Termites build mounds with passive climate control, inspiring human architecture, and have complex social castes. The article balances legitimate reasons for dislike with the insects' ecological significance.