Attracting Beneficial Insects For Garden
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Day or night, your garden is bustling with activity. With millions of insects all around the world, your backyard garden is one of the sites that would attract them the most or is even home to some. Among the thousand kinds of insect species existing on our planet, a very small percentage are actually pests or destructive. Only those that transmit diseases or feed on valued plants are problematic. Most are actually harmless and even beneficial or useful.
If you've ever had a garden, you know the joy of watching your garden plants thrive. But did you know that you can encourage the growth of insects in your garden? These beneficial bugs help ensure that your plants stay healthy, so they'll thrive even in a drought.
If you want to attract beneficial insects to your garden, start by making sure there are plenty of flowers around. These insects need food too, so you can also plant some flowers for these insects as well as for their eggs.
What is a Beneficial Insect?
What are beneficial insects? And what are these “benefits”? Beneficial insects are insects that help keep your flowers, garden plants, and crops healthy and thriving. They play an important role in sustaining an ecosystem such as pollination and pest control. Some insects also provide food for another insect as well as help in soil fertility.
Beneficial insects have actually been used in organic pest control for quite some time. They are considered to be a biological control solution that involves the use of living organisms as a method to control pests. While a lot of people view insects simply as creepy crawlies, they are actually vital in providing balance and benefits to their ecosystems.
Beneficial insects lay their eggs on the undersides of leaves and other protected areas. The eggs hatch into larvae, which are soft-bodied. These soft bodied insects eat pests that can harm plants, such as aphids, caterpillars, or plant bugs. They also eat other pests that prey on plants. Some larvae are predators that hunt other insects that feed on plants. Some larvae are parasites that live inside the bodies of other insects in order to feed on them from within.
Common beneficial insects include damsel bugs, pill bugs, pirate bugs, braconid wasps, parasitic wasps that lay their eggs on other insects and then eat them from the inside out when they hatch—and other types of parasitic wasps that lay their eggs on plants (usually aphids) and then feed off of other plants nutrients until they're ready to fly away as adults.
The Three Categories of Beneficial Insects
Pollinators
These are the insects that help guarantee a successful harvest. We rely on these insects to pollinate flowers, fruits, and vegetables. Bees, butterflies, wasps, flies, and moths are among these insects.
Predators
These voracious predators are insects that eat another insects such as aphids and beetles or feed them to their young. Some insects are predatory in their larvae form, some in their adult form, and some are both. Predator insects include the notorious wheel bug, the well-known stink bug, ladybugs, praying mantis, adult green lacewings/lacewing larvae, ground beetles, damsel bugs, spiders, and centipedes.
Parasitoids
These insects form parasitic relationships with pests. They lay eggs on the bodies of another insects as hosts, feed on it and eventually kill it in the process. Parasitic wasps are an example of these insects.
Larval Stage
Larvae are the immature form of insects that undergo metamorphosis. They are the only stage of development between egg and adult.
The larval stage can be divided into two parts: the pre-feeding and feeding stages. During the pre-feeding stage, larvae feed on their yolk sacs, which they absorb and store nutrients from. During this time, they grow rapidly and develop into pupa or chrysalis. During the feeding stage, larvae consume food provided by their mother or other adult insects in their habitat. This stage generally lasts from a few weeks up to one year depending on the species of insect in question, for example beetle larvae and wasp larvae are very similar in many ways, they both have a soft and egmented body that's covered in a protective outer layer of skin.
What are the "Benefits" of Beneficial Insects?
But why use beneficial insects? Isn’t it simpler to just spray the pesky pests away?
Safer Natural Control
One of the methods for garden pest management is the use of pesticides. However, pesticides contain chemicals that can cause harmful effects on humans as well as the environment and their surroundings. Short-term effects of pesticides include rashes, nausea, blisters, dizziness, or diarrhea. Its long-term and chronic effects include cancer, neurological and developmental toxicity, birth defects, and reproductive harm. Pesticides are also toxic to the soil, water, insects, and other organisms like birds, fish, and other vegetation. As more and more people are now becoming aware of the negative effects of using chemical pesticides on crops, they are turning to organic pest management methods instead. And using the good bugs is one of the non-toxic approaches of organic pest extermination.
Cost Efficient
The beneficial bugs are cost efficient. These little guys will be there to stay as long as they have an environment they can thrive in.
Resistance
Recently, a certain number of insects have shown resistance to chemical pesticides. Constant exposure to the same pesticide can lead to resistance over time. However, these resistant pests will always have a natural predator who can always eradicate or simply eat them.
Pollination
Some insects are the best pollinators. A big percentage of our food crops rely on pollination. Pollination from bee species and other insects result in higher crop yields and larger more flavorful fruits. Using chemical pesticides as pest extermination will not only drive the pests away but will also drive out the pollinators.
Recycling
A lot of insects are sanitation experts. Fallen leaves, dead plants and animal wastes are all over our surroundings. There are insects that feed on dead or decaying plants and animals. There are also some that feed on animal excretions. These insects clean up waste and break them down into useful nutrients or resources that feed the soil or help plants grow.
The Garden Good Guys
Insects provide essential services to man and the environment. These services are those that the world cannot live without. Let’s meet a few of these garden guardians.
Lady Bugs
Despite their bright red delightful appearance, ladybugs are savage predators. Also known as ladybird beetles, ladybugs are voracious predators to aphids, which are small, sap-sucking, plant-eating insects that can do serious damage.
They are also predators of whiteflies, mites, mealybugs, and fleas. Ladybugs are attracted to dill, dandelion, common yarrow, mint, and cosmos among a few.
Praying Mantis
The mantis is a popular garden good guy that will feed on various types of insects including beetles, caterpillars, aphids, crickets, leafhoppers, and moths.
However, they also feed on other garden beneficials such as butterflies, spiders, bees and even other mantises. They are attracted to garden plants such as dills, marigolds, cosmos, yarrow, tall grasses and shrubs.
Green Lacewings
These transparent, lace-like winged insects are nocturnal with voracious appetite for slow-moving, soft-bodied garden pests including aphids, mealybugs, mites, whiteflies, and caterpillars.
Both adults and lacewing larvae are consumers of aphids and insect eggs. These insects are attracted to coriander, cosmos, dandelion, dill, fennel, and yarrow among others.
Ground Beetles
These are nocturnal predatory beetles that are beneficial both as adults and larvae. They eat a wide range of soil-dwelling insects such as caterpillars, cutworms, nematodes, slugs, snails, silverfish, thrips and weevils.
They hunt at night, keeping low to the ground, and seek shelter from heat and sunlight during daytime through stones, leaf litter or log piles. They are attracted to amaranthus, clover, evening primrose, perennial plants, or potted plants.
Soldier Beetles
These beetles are voracious predators of aphids, caterpillars, and other crop-damaging beetles or soft-bodied prey. Both adults and larvae are predators of insect pests (i.e. Squash bugs) and their eggs or larvae.
It is also commonly called leatherwings because of their leather-looking, red-coated wings. They are attracted to garden plants with brightly colored compound blossoms such as goldenrod, marigold, milkweed, or zinnias.
Spiders
Technically arachnids and not insects, spiders are invertebrate animals and are effective at eliminating garden pests. Though they have no distinction between the beneficial and the plant-damaging insects, they eat whatever is entangled in their sticky webs.
They eat aphids, bees, beetles, flies, grasshoppers, or wasps. They are attracted to perennial flowering plants, ground covers, wood piles, tall plants or mulch.
Assassin Bugs
Assassin bugs are beneficial insects that help control harmful insects in your garden. They are easy to spot, slow moving and they use their sharp mouth parts secreting toxins on their prey. These insects feed on aphids, caterpillars, cucumber beetles, insect eggs, leafhoppers, and larvae among others.
They are drawn to ornamental flower gardens and vegetable gardens. However, be cautious of these insects as some of them are harmful to humans. They bite humans, which are quite painful and might cause swelling and some allergic reactions that need immediate treatment.
Robber Flies
These bug-eating machines that look intimidating are aggressive predators. They go after a wide variety of garden pests such as beetles, wasps, grasshoppers, leafhoppers, spiders and others. They even prey on insects that are larger than them. And they are one of those few insects that can catch their prey while airborne.
They attack by injecting their prey with toxins and enzymes from their saliva that paralyzes it while its insides are turned into mush which are then sucked out by the robber fly. The downside is that they eat whatever crosses their paths and that includes other beneficial insects as well. These insects are attracted to catnip, chamomile, daisy, mint, or any open sunny spot with plenty of herbaceous flowering plants and shrubs.
Hoverflies
These insects looked similar to bees or wasps because of their yellow and black color but they don’t have a stinger. Adult hoverflies are excellent pollinators and their larvae are vigorous predators of aphids, caterpillars, scale insects, and thrips.
Hoverflies are called such because they hover effortlessly, quickly darting to and from short distances and hovering time and again. They are often seen hovering over their favorite flowers like small helicopters. They are also called syrphid flies, flower flies or drone flies. These insects are attracted to dill, yarrow, alyssum, lemon balm, marigold, and other fragrant herbs and flowers.
Parasitoid Wasps
These are very tiny wasps and you would probably not be able to see them at work. They lay their eggs inside or on host garden pest insects. As the larvae hatches, they consume the host eventually killing it. Braconid wasps lay eggs on caterpillars, cabbage worms, and tomato hornworms.
Trichogramma wasps lay eggs on over hundreds of different insect pests such as corn borers, gypsy moth caterpillars, beetles, squash bugs and more. These wasps are attracted to flowering garden plants, dill, yarrow, fennel, clover, marigold, alyssum, and carrot among others.
How to Attract Beneficial Insects
Now that we have identified a few of our garden pals, the next step is to lure them into our backyard. Just like all living creatures, insects need the basics to survive. Water, food, and shelter. Making your garden into something suitable to their living condition would encourage them to take up residence. Keeping the beds mulched will give safe haven to earthbound and ground insects from the scorching heat of the sun during the daytime. This will keep the soil moist and can give warmth and cover to some beneficial insects as well. Some rocks or stepping stones and tall leafy plants can give shelter and shade to nocturnal insects.
There should also be a water source present. You can provide water through a simple watering hole using a saucer or any shallow container. With a purpose similar to a bird bath, you can put in some stones or gravel to provide a resting place for the insects and to keep them from drowning. Also, regularly watering your garden will also form water puddles that can keep the insects hydrated. Always remember to water more on dry days.
Grow a diversity of native plants that attract them to provide appropriate sources of nectar. As most beneficial insects consume nectar and pollen as alternative food sources. Remember not to spray harmful pesticides as they eliminate pests as well as beneficial insects at the same time, these sprays can also harm your crops and plants.
Attracting beneficial insects is a form of pest management often used in organic gardening, and in recent years it has become more widespread. Not only are they being used by organic farmers but also by native plants and tree health care specialists for pest management. Even homeowners are using them to maintain their own gardens naturally and sustainably. Beneficial insects are one of nature’s natural regulating elements in keeping balance in the environment and ecosystem.
Beneficial insects are an inevitable part of the ecosystem and are capable of reducing pests in your gardens. These insects will be attracted to a garden with a variety of plants that may give food and shelter, as well as a water source. But remember that they are not an instant solution. It might take some time for them to do their work and produce results. As long as you do your part in providing them a suitable home, they will also do their part to co-exist and help you maintain a healthy garden.
*This is the fifty-fifth in an ongoing series that teaches homesteading in Texas. This is not a sponsored post although it may contain affiliate links to recommended products and/or services
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