Beneficial Insects

The Importance of Beneficial Insects

In any backyard or small farm ecosystem, it is important to welcome all life forms as much as possible.  Even though Ants herd and spread Aphids, they also destroy Fruit fly and Housefly larvae, and keep the garden clear of much debris.  Many Wasps parasitize pests such as Aphids and grubs.

Toads eat Earwigs, Slugs, Cutworms, and other pests (up to 10,000 in three months).  Yet for toads to be successful in your garden they need hiding places away from cultivated areas.

Many birds consume insect pests by the hundreds in a single day.  I always look forward to our Cliff Swallows retuning to our property each year, because any flying insect is pretty much lunch.  It's amazing how active they are at catching insects in mid-air… all day long!

Even the tiny Bat is our friend in the garden or farm and should be encouraged to stay.  A Bat will consume 1,000 Mosquitoes in a single night and is harmless to animals and humans.

The Secret to Attracting Beneficial Insects to your Organic Garden

The secret to attracting the beneficial insects is simple, biodiversity.  Along side your vegetables grow as many flowering perennials as you can.  Mix it up.  Also, something I believe will be taught and talked about in the coming future will be planting more plants that are native to your area.

When you have favorable insects evolving for thousands of years on native flora, then to me, it makes sense to continue that process by planting native plants in and around your organic garden that will attract, feed and house these favorable insects. Natives also require significantly less water and little or no fertilizer.

Successfully utilizing insect predators and parasitoids as a biological control is also achieved through conservation and augmentation.

Learn about the plants you can grow in your garden to attract Beneficial Insectary Plants

Insects Beneficial to your Organic Garden

Assassin Bugs:  Caterpillars, aphids, Mexican Bean Beetles, Colorado Potato Beetles, Leafhoppers, Japanese Beetles

Bee Flies: the larvae are parasites (parasitic) on other insects' larvae and pupae and Grasshopper eggs.

Bigeyed Bug: Aphids, Blister Beetles, immature bugs, Leafhoppers, and Spider Mites.

Braconid Wasp: various caterpillars or aphids.

Digger Wasp: external parasites of Coleoptera

Encarsia formosa: Greenhouse Whitefly

Fiery Hunter: Cutworms and Armyworms.

Fiery Searcher:  soft- bodied larvae, including Cankerworms and Tent Caterpillars.

Firefly:  Slugs and Snails.

Flower Fly:  aphids, mealybugs, Leafhoppers, and scale.

Green Lacewing: various larvae, and the eggs of other insects.

Ground Beetle:  FIERCE predator of many kinds of slugs and snails.

Ichneumon Wasp:  Caterpillars (Lepidoptera).

Lady Beetles:  Aphid and Scale predator.

Mealybug Destroyer: Mealybugs.

Minute Pirate Bug: Aphids, Spider Mites, and thrips.

Parasitic Wasps

Pennsylvania Leatherwing:  Grasshopper eggs, Cucumber Beetles, and a variety of Caterpillars.

Potter Wasp: paralyzed Cankerworms and other insects.

Praying Mantids: nymphs, aphids, beetles, Bugs, Leafhoppers, flies, bees, wasps, Caterpillars.

Predatory Mite: Spider Mites (egg, larvae, pupae, and adult) and Thrips.

Robber Flies:  grubs, Beetle pupae, and Grasshopper eggs.

Soldier Beetle: aphids.

Tachinid Flies:  beetles, bug species, caterpillars, Grasshoppers, and Sawflies.

Trichogramma Wasp:  parasites inside the eggs of other insects.

Tiger Beetle: larvae feed during the day on many plant eating insects.

Yellow Jacket:  small insects.