There are 77,000 species of insects in North American alone. Indeed once you start looking, you ll find insects everywhere. Some may live on your family pet, in your basement, in your teenagers cluttered room, in the garage or kitchen. Insect allies, though, far outnumber what we may consider pests . Certain insects break down decaying matter such as the dung beetles and many species are food for birds and other animals.
All insects are beneficial.
It is only when we do not want them as a visitor in our homes that we describe them as a pest . Complete elimination of the pest is neither feasible nor biologically possible. In fact, during WWII, the miracle broad- spectrum insecticide DDT was produced. The synthetic development of DDT was supposed to eliminate all problems with insects. The extraordinary effectiveness and subsequent deleterious effects of DDT are now well known.