15 Creatures That Have More Rights to Stay in Your Home Than You Think

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Picture this: Somehow you’re just sitting at home, minding your own business, when a spider falls from the ceiling and acts like it owns the place. You may reach for something to squash it with, but have you ever wondered what the purpose of these little houseguests are? Even if your first glance at some creatures that creep, crawl, or flutter through your homes makes you uneasy, some of them are crucial to maintaining the balance.

The thing is, a lot of these animals are doing more for your house than you know. Their surprising benefits — from preventing pests to enhancing air quality — might convince you to give them a second look. Before you grab the broom, let’s look at a few that deserve a second chance.

Spiders

Spiders might make you shiver, but they’re the lesser known heroes of pest control. Their diet is made up of flies, mosquitoes, and the other insects you’d rather not have buzzing around your home. Spiders globally eat an estimated 400 to 800 million tons of insects each year, according to a study published in ResearchGate. They’re tiny, silent exterminators on the job 24/7—no paycheck needed.

Bees

If you’re lucky enough to have a beehive near you, consider yourself lucky. According to the USDA, bees are responsible for pollinating about 75 percent of the crops we eat. They are less common indoors, but if one gets in, it is a reminder of how important a role of our food system they have to play. Maybe a little patience and guidance as to how to get them out will be the thanks you need to say.

Ants

While ants may be an irritant, these small engineers have a lot to teach about team work and resource use. In addition to cleaning up crumbs and other organic matter, they help prevent bigger pests from moving in, and it’s also fun to watch them build trails, so to speak, almost like a mini construction crew at work.

Bats

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Perhaps, you’ve even come across a bat in your attic and immediately called animal control. However, bats are incredible insect eaters, especially with regards to mosquitoes. Nature’s best bug zappers are bats, which can consume up to 1,000 of the blood suckers in an hour.

Ladybugs

While these little colorful beetles are charming to look at, they’re also great at eating aphids and other plant pests. If you like growing indoor plants, having a ladybug or two running around will help keep your plants healthy and happy.

Earthworms

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If you’ve got indoor plants, earthworms aren’t something you’ll see too often, but they’re a secret weapon for soil health. Their waste becomes a natural fertilizer and they aerate the soil allowing roots to breathe better. It’s a tiny hidden gardening assistant in your pots.

House Geckos

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Tiny lizards are a natural way to cut down on bugs in your home. House geckos eat cockroaches, moths and mosquitoes, which makes them like the quiet pest control team you didn’t even know you needed.

Beetles

There are certain beetles such as the carpet beetle that feed on dead skin cells and hair and other organic debris. That might sound gross, but they are essentially the cleaning crew of the insect world, cleaning up messes you didn’t even know existed.

Centipedes

Centipedes look like something out of a horror movie, if you think about it. Don’t judge a book by its cover, though. It’s a ferocious predator of silverfish, termites, and bed bugs. You’ll probably see one scurrying across your floor, hunting down something much less pleasant.

Silverfish

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While silverfish can be frustrating when they bite through your books or your clothes, they do serve a purpose as scavengers picking off dead insects and busy cleaning up biological debris. They’re kind of nature’s vacuum cleaners for tiny messes.

Dust Mites

Okay, dust mites might not be the most popular party guests, but they play an important role in breaking down dead skin cells. Though they’re usually connected with allergies, they’re also a part of the natural decomposition process, preventing your home from being overcome by microscopic trash.

Flies

While they may be pretty gross, some fly species aid in decomposing organic waste. They’re a way nature has of keeping trash from piling up forever. Although they’re not the best choice for indoor work, they do a surprisingly good job outside.

Cockroaches

Before you cringe, hear me out: Decaying organic material (i.e. waste) is what cockroaches eat, and so they help break down waste. An infestation is not something you want, but if you have a stray roach here and there, that might mean it’s time to clean up a little bit in your home—don’t blame them.

Wasps

Bees get all the love, but wasps also eat other insects in their role as pest control. If you have an outdoor space, they’re particularly good at controlling garden pests, so they make an unexpected ally.

Moths

Some moth species are infamous for ruining clothes, but some are involved in pollinating. They’re nocturnal and subtle, pollinating some flowers that blossom during the night so biodiversity can thrive while you snooze.

Disclaimer: This list is solely the author’s opinion based on research and publicly available information.