Did you know that there are actually several types of insects that are beneficial for your garden? These insects prey on harmful insects or their larvae.
Actually, most insects are so tiny that most people never even realize they exist. Spraying pesticides without any thought for the ecosystem is possibly the very worst thing you can do to encourage a healthy garden.
Here is a list of insects that will help control pest problems which you can either attract to your garden or purchase from your local farm supply store and release into your garden at the appropriate time. This is not an exhaustive list, it’s more like a most common list, and there are many other helpful insects species that can be used to control pests in your garden or lawn. We encourage you to do some research into your local ecosystem in order to find which pest control insects live in your area and how you can attract them.
Common pest control insects for your garden, flowers or lawn:
Brachonids, Chalcids and Ichneumon Wasps – These small insects are one of the richest families of insects. They are also parasitoids and feed on other insects, especially upon the larval stages of leaf eating caterpillars. A good way to attract them to your garden is by planting vegetables such as carrots, celery, parsley and caraway and then allowing them to flower.
Ladybugs – Lady bugs are always a child favorite but they are also a very healthy insect for your garden. Not only that, but they aren’t really a bug at all; rather, a type of beetle. Most ladybug species are beneficial to gardens in general because they feed on aphids, scale insects, mealybugs and mites throughout the winter. A good way to draw ladybugs into your garden is by planting mustard plants or flowers from the daisy family.
Lacewing – These little critters are most notable for that fact that their larvae are predatory towards aphids and other pest insects. For this reason Lacewing is often used commercially for biological control. You can attract Lacewing by planting flower seed like Yarrow, Goldenrod, Black-Eyed Susan’s and Asters just to name a few.
Hover-Flies – These little guys are also called flower flies and the male population mostly feeds on nectar. The larvae, however, are insectivores and prey on aphids, thrips and other plant-sucking insects. The maggots of hover flies will also eat decaying plant or animal matter which is also beneficial to gardens. You can attract flower flies just like you do Lacewing by planting Yarrow, Goldenrod and Black-Eyed Susan’s.
Praying Mantis – This lovely insect has two grasping, spiked forelegs which are used to catch and hold their prey securely and the fact that they can is very lucky indeed for gardeners. Mantises are exclusively predatory and eat all sorts of pest insects. The best way to get Mantises in your garden is to order their eggs online and then spread them around liberally in your garden bed.
Frogs – If your garden is a kingdom then a frog is your knight champion. Frogs can be great friends to your endeavors and will eat many types of flies, moths and other flying insects. You can attract or retain frogs by building a small pond near your garden and stocking it full of beautiful aquatic plants. A pond will also attract Dragonflies which also eat many types of pest insects.
Rove Beetles – Rove beetles can be found just about anywhere beetles might exist. Their diet includes just about everything except the living tissue of higher plants. Most rove beetles are predators of insects and other kinds of invertebrates and will feed on soil dwelling insects like root maggot eggs, larvae and pupae.
Natural pest control is often less expensive and is definitely less harmful to both your garden and its surrounding ecosystem than applying pesticides.
We suggest you attract or buy and release the right type of helpful insect into your garden when attempting to deal with those other pesky pest insects.
