When the question is asked "what are insects for?" many people have nothing positive to say, as they only remember the bad things insects do; bees and wasps sting, ants enter houses and cobwebs are a nuisance to the eyes. However, people tend to forget that insects can do many good things for the environments in which they live. This includes pollination of flowers and other plants, decomposition of plant and animal debris, control of pest insect populations, and much more. A constant lesson that needs to be reinforced every day so that everyone understands that not all bugs are bad and that many bugs do more than you think. When Gilbert Waldbauer was asked the same question: "what are insects for?" he wrote a book to give his greatest answer and titled the book What Good are Bugs? – Insects in the web of life. In his book he covered four main areas: helping plants, helping animals, limiting population growth, and cleaning up. Within these four main areas there are twelve different topics; which cover a broad spectrum of how bugs provide benefits. Among the topics Waldbauer covers, the most important way insects benefit different environments is by helping plants and flowers through pollination and seed dispersal. Today, pollination is a common daily occurrence and no one thinks twice about how and why it happens. However, two centuries ago, very few people understood insect pollination because the showy flower petals were said to be the Creator's way of pleasing his people (Waldbauer, 2003). It was not until 1793 that Conrad Sprengel first explained that colorful flowers are the means of attracting insects for pollination (Waldbauer, 2003). Sprengel's understanding of insect pollination comes from his understanding of......middle of paper......2010). Emergence of tassels and loss of pollen. West Lafayette, IN: Purdue University, Department of Agronomy.7) Palmer, Brain. (2013). From jasmine to rotting flesh, flowers emit fragrances to attract pollinators. Health and Science: The Washington Post.8) Soomers, H., Karssenberg, D., Soons, M. B., Verweij, P. A., Verhoeven, J. T. A., & Wassen, M. J. (2013). Wind and water dispersal of wetland plants across fragmented landscapes. Ecosystems, 16, 434-451.9) Speight, M.R., Hunter, M.D., & Watt, A.D. (2008). Insect ecology: concepts and applications. 2nd edition. Chichester, West Sussex: Wiley-Blackwell.10) Triplehorn, C. A., & Johnson, N. F. (2005). Borron and Delong's introduction to the study of insects. 7th ed. Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole.11) Waldbauer, Gilbert. (2003). What are insects for? – Insects in the web of life. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Pres