Positive and Negative of Insects

Positive

Agriculture: biocontrol, pollination
e.g. parasitoid wasps, predators, honey bees, solitary bees

Medicine: antibiotics, chronic disease treatment, maggot
debridement, apitherapy
e.g. honey bee venom, maggots

Commerce: products, cochineal, silk, wax, honey
e.g. scale insects, silk moth, honey bees

Science: research subjects: genetics, ecology, physiology, behavior
e.g. vinegar “fruit” flies, tobacco hornworm, honey bees

Aesthetics: art & inspiration
e.g. butterflies, beetles, fireflies

Food: nutrition, environmental& economic sustainability
e.g. 500 species, 17 families, especially grubs & caterpillars

Negative

Agriculture: competition for food & fiber
e.g. apple maggot, bark beetles

Domestic: damage to property & goods
e.g. termites, silverfish,

Medicine: parasites & disease
e.g. malaria, J.E,Aedes, screw worm fly