Beneficial Insects

Large dark brown or black beetle with grooves down its backMany insects in your garden are predators and therefore help control the populations of harmful insects. Any measures you take to kill insects should be undertaken with care to avoid harming beneficial insects...in fact, 95% of insects are beneficial to your garden! They help aerate the soil, break down organic matter, store nutrients, pollinate flowers and eat harmful insects...and they do it all for free! 

Making your Garden Inviting to Beneficial Insects and Animals

All animals and insects require food, water and shelter. By providing these for the beneficial animals and insects you will help control the populations of harmful insects in your garden.

Supply Water: A birdbath works well for birds, a shallow dish with some stones in it will work for butterflies and insects. Change the water regularly to offer your friends a place for a clean drink.

Provide Shelter: By planting a wide variety of plants, trees and shrubs you provide places for the beneficial insects to hide from predators, lay their eggs, and raise their young.

Birds eat an amazing amount of bugs so you want to encourage them to live in your garden but you don’t want to encourage fruit eating birds to hang around in your strawberry bed.

Flower Flies A yellow-jacketed wasp. Hangs out around flowers.
Larvae eat aphid
Lace Wings Long wings 3/4" long. Larvae look like small alligators. Aphids and other soft-bodied insects
Lady Bugs Round red shell with black spots. Aphids
Parasitic & Small Wasps
Lay eggs inside other insects. The eggs hatch and kill the host. 
 Often affects aphids.
Spiders Many different varieties. A wide variety of insects.
Ground Beetles Large dark brown or black beetle with grooves down its back Many different insects
Yellow Jackets Wasps Gather insects to feed larvae.
Bees Familiar yellow and black fuzzy body. Pollinate Flowers