Not every bug in your garden is a bad bug. Some of them are there eating the bugs that are eating your plants. Knowing which ones to keep will help you decide if you need to do more to control pests. A few of the beneficial insects in the garden are well known. These include the ladybug and the praying mantis. Others are so small or resemble other insects that you may never know they are there.
First Step to More Beneficials
By keeping toxic chemicals out of your garden, you allow beneficial insects to increase. More often than not, beneficials are affected to a greater extent than the insect you were trying to control with a pesticide. There are many ways to control pests that will help protect beneficials. Hand picking and removing weak plants that are heavily infested with pests will help keep pests in check. Barriers, such as floating row covers or baited traps are also effective. These methods will also help with occasional outbreaks once your garden is beneficial friendly.
Seldom Seen Beneficials
While ladybugs and praying mantises are easily recognized, there are many others that you have to look hard to find. These include:
- Tachinid Flies, which look like houseflies
- Assassin and Ambush Bugs
- Beetles
- Lightning Bug Larvae
- Braconid Wasp
These, and several others, are doing more work than you may expect. Some feed while in the larvae stage, hiding under mulch. Assassin and ambush bugs are predators that live up to their names. Others, like the Braconid wasp, act as parasites by living part of their lives inside their host. The Braconid wasp’s host is the tomato hornworm, a large green caterpillar that can reach four inches in length. If you find any hornworms with white cocoons sticking up off their backs, leave them be. The hornworm is dead, but just doesn’t know it yet. The cocoons are from the Braconid wasp larvae that have been living, eating and growing inside the hornworm.
Increasing Beneficial Populations
Several beneficials can be purchased through gardening catalogues or over the internet. These include ladybugs, praying mantises, lacewings and sometimes, parasitic wasps. Praying mantis egg cases can be found from winter through early spring where dead weeds still stand. The egg cases will be attached to the stems of these plants and look like small, tan foam-like masses. If you collect mantis egg cases, keep the cases attached to the stems and place them out in your garden. Once the temperatures begin to rise, the eggs will hatch and you will have hundreds of tiny praying mantises. The downside to trying to introduce beneficials to your garden is that there are no guarantees they will stay in your garden. They will be in the area though, and over time, you may find that they will find your garden the right place to settle down.
Until next time, In Bocca Al Lupo!
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