Are spiders bugs? It depends on what you mean by bug. Spiders are not insects. Insects have bodies with three parts. Spiders are arachnids. They have bodies with two parts, and they have eight legs. But when many people use the word “bug,” they mean spiders too.

Bugs can bug us. Or—in the case of spiders—they can freak us out. But the whole world depends on bugs!

Bugs pollinate plants. Think about one chore bugs do in nature: pollination! Bugs take pollen from the male part of a plant to the female part. This allows plants to produce fruit—and later to grow more fruit from new seeds. No bugs means no plants. And no plants means no us!

Bugs take out the trash. Ever met a saprophage? Maybe we should ask, have you ever met a maggot, wasp, ant, or mite? Saprophage bugs like these love dead stuff—decomposing plants and animals. This dead material keeps these bugs alive. And these bugs keep the world from filling up with decomposing junk!

Bugs keep the food chain going. We love bugs for what they eat, especially when they eat invasive plants taking over an ecosystem. We also love bugs because they’re food for other animals. Animals like woodpeckers, mice, bats, and frogs—and many more—would die without bugs to eat. Bugs also eat other bugs. Spiders, for example, gobble up bothersome bugs in the garden.

Bugs give us ingredients. For some, those ingredients go into dinner. People around the world eat bugs in different forms. But you’ll find bugs and bug-products off the dinner plate too. Lotion, candles, and lipstick contain beeswax. Bright red pigment called cochineal comes from the crushed body of an insect called Coccus cacti. Coccus cacti live on cactus plants. Cochineal dye is used in fabric, natural food coloring, and makeup.