In nature, not much seems to go to waste. When an animal dies, there are always other animals ready to swoop in acting as nature’s garbage disposal system. Once the animals are done, the insects move in to finish off the job. If you look closely enough, one can always find ants carrying off insect parts or even entire insects that have died or have been killed. It’s another example of the lack of waste in nature.
Like all living things, when something is consumed, it will be expelled eventually in one form or another. In many cases in the insect world this “frass” or “poop” has a useful purpose in one way or another.
All insects always eliminate waste products through their anus. Some ants and all young termites do not have the microbes that are needed to digest wood. Frass is obtained from the adults in the colony, often times directly from the anus. Once ingested, the frass consumption allows for the needed microbes to begin developing. Termites also use their frass as construction material when they build their elaborate colonies.
Leafcutter ants that are the bottom of their social ladder in their colony spend their entire lifetime as the colonies poop remover. In the cockroach world, young cockroaches do not touch poop. It is the job of the adults to gather up all of the poop and carry it out of the nesting areas.
One type of grasshopper has been found to poop out entire fruit seeds. Those seeds have even been found to germinate better than seeds that fall off of the trees or blow in the wind.