[MUSIC PLAYING] NARRATOR: Is there anything more lowly than the lowly cockroach?

Uh, yeah, there is.

That's a cockroach mite.

It lives its entire life on this cockroach.

But these hitchhikers are doing a lot more good than you might think.

The mites are only found on one type of cockroach-- these guys, Madagascar hissing cockroaches, which are known for their hiss, of course.

[hissing] They do that when disturbed or looking for a mate.

They only live in the Madagascar rainforest on an island off the coast of Africa.

And they're bigger than the cockroaches you might find in your kitchen, like these brown-banded roaches.

These pests will eat anything-- food scraps, poop, trash, you name it.

As a result, they can spread disease or trigger allergies.

Hissing cockroaches are detritivores.

They mainly eat decaying leaves, tidying up the forest floor.

They can even be kept as pets because they're more docile than their common cousins.

And, more importantly, they are a lot cleaner thanks to a permanent population of tiny house keepers.

OK, yeah, it looks pretty bad.

The mites crowd together in the crevices, places where the cockroach can't brush them off.

They get their meals near the cockroach's head, gobbling up the food bits and saliva that the cockroach leaves behind.

When they get thirsty, they head to the spiracles, the openings the roach uses to breathe.

The mites get water vapor from them.

The roach also has one special hissing spiracle for that signature sound.

[hisses] The mites live on a single roach unless they get passed on from roach parent to roach baby.

They're doing these cockroaches a favor.

By cleaning up the old food and debris, the mites help keep them free of mold and pathogens-- potentially extending the roaches' lives.

Really, both a hissing cockroach and its mites have the same important job-- keeping the world a little bit neater.

Not so lowly after all.

Looking for more wild science adventures?

Journey to Earth's most remote laboratory in Antarctic Extremes, a harsh, thrilling, and hilarious new show from NOVA and PBS Digital Studios.

Hosts Caitlin Saks and Arlo Pérez reveal a world where science and survival meet.

Find the show on Terra, PBS Digital Studio's new science channel.

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