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Blog: Meet the new pollinators: cockroaches, crickets and wasps

Wasps, crickets and cockroaches play a dynamic part in the cross-fertilization of the non-photosynthetic plant (a plant mostly lacking in chlorophyll or a functional photosystem).
pollinators

Wasps, crickets and cockroaches play a dynamic part in the cross-fertilization of the non-photosynthetic plant (a plant mostly lacking in chlorophyll or a functional photosystem). As we all know, wasps do play a role in pollinating flowers, but cockroaches and crickets are not generally seen as key pollinators. Wasps, cockroaches and crickets are all attracted to fermentation smells such as tree sap, and the nectar of flowers that have a fermented odor. Plants that don’t photosynthesize can live in settings where the sunlight hardly reaches, giving them an advantage over other plants. In these dark surroundings, bees and butterflies are rarely seen. This is probably why certain plants relies on wasps, cockroaches and crickets which look for food in moderately miserable environments, such as the forest floor.  Nearly 90 per cent of flowering plants depend on bees and other insects for cross-pollination.    

 

Go Green Pest Control owner Randy Bilesky is a long-time South Delta resident. Trained and certified, Bilesky has first-hand knowledge of the pest problems that local homeowners and business owners encounter.