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An increase in the numbers of insects that can harm agricultural land, orchards or forests is prevented by means of various other life forms. Various birds, spiders, insect parasites, wild bees, flies, ladybirds and species of fungus and many other organisms keep 99% of insect pests under control.130 Species of which most people take little notice play an important role in the stabilization of ecological balances. It is estimated that these beneficial organisms contribute billions of dollars to the economy every year by protecting crops and reducing the need for insect pesticides.131 Bearing in mind that pesticides are damaging the balances in nature, kill useful species, and have a negative impact on human health, the importance of these helpful organisms to control harmful insect pests becomes even clearer.
For example, the European corn weevil Pyrausta nubilalis and the Japanese insect Popillia japonica are being eradicated through the use of natural predators and parasites. Wild bees that feed on the larvae of insect pests that attack fruit are released into Californian fruit farms after they have been raised for that purpose.132 In conclusion, different species have different tasks in the maintenance of the balances in nature.
Whenever "insects" are mentioned, most people think of those that damage crops or human health. Yet this is a grave misconception, since it is known that most insects are beneficial.133 Insects play a major role in the food chain on land, in the fertilization of flowering plants, in the cleaning of the Earth, and many ecological balances. To put it more accurately, human life is directly or indirectly dependent upon insects.