Beneficial Insects
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Damsel Bug Beneficial Insect
The damsel bug is a beneficial insect. Damsel bugs prey on aphids, leafhoppers, plant bugs, thrips, and small caterpillars. Damsel bugs cause no damage to plants. Adult damsel bugs lay their eggs on meadow grasses. To attract damsel bugs to the garden plant ornamental grasses. As well, damsel bugs are commonly found in unsprayed alfalfa […] More
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Centipedes and Millipedes in the Garden
Centipedes and millipedes are generally beneficial creatures. Centipedes feed on soil-dwelling mites, insects, insect larvae, baby snails, and slugs. (They paralyze small insect prey with venomous claws.) Millipedes feed on decaying plant tissue and fallen fruit. Together centipedes and millipedes help break down organic matter enriching the soil by helping to create humus. Sometimes centipedes […] More
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Ground Beetle Beneficial Insect
Ground beetles are beneficial insects. Adult ground beetles and their larvae eat asparagus beetles, caterpillars, Colorado potato beetles, corn ear worms, cutworms, cabbage root maggots, Gypsy moth larvae, slugs, snails, squash vine borers, and tobacco bud worms. A single ground beetle larva can eat more than 50 caterpillars. Adults hunt their prey in the soil […] More
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Tiger Beetle Beneficial Insect
The tiger beetle is a mostly beneficial insect. It eats pest insects including ants, caterpillars, flies, grasshopper nymphs, and spiders. But sometimes tiger beetles eat their own and some other beneficial insects. Tiger beetles are closely related to ground beetles, also beneficial insects, but unlike the ground beetle, the head of a tiger beetle is […] More
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Rove Beetle Beneficial Insect
Rove beetles are beneficial insects. Adult and larvae rove beetles eat soft-bodied pest insects including the eggs and larvae of aphids, mites, and mealybugs. They also eat nematodes, cabbage maggots, caterpillars, grubs, fly maggots and pupae, and the larvae of root maggots. Rove beetles eat rotting vegetation and insects that feed on the decaying flesh […] More
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Big-Eyed Bug Beneficial Insect
Big-eyed bugs are beneficial insects. Big-eyed bug adults and larvae eat many garden pests including aphids, cabbage loopers, caterpillars, chinch bugs, flea beetles, leafhoppers, Mexican bean beetles, spider mites, thrips, whiteflies and the eggs of aphids, corn earworms, and mites. Attract big-eyed bugs to the garden by planting goldenrod, pigweed, and soybeans. Big-eyed bugs feed […] More
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Hover Fly Beneficial Insect
The hover fly is a beneficial insect. It is also called the syrphid fly and sometimes the flower fly. Adult hover flies are pollinators. They are often seen hovering like hummingbirds over flowers as they drink nectar. Adult hover flies do not feed on pest insects. Hover fly larvae do feed on pest insects. They […] More
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Soldier Beetle Beneficial Insect
The soldier beetle is a beneficial insect. Both adult and especially larvae soldier beetles are voracious eaters preying on insect pests including cucumber beetles, corn rootworms, aphids, grasshopper eggs, caterpillars, and beetle larvae. A second common name for the soldier beetle is leatherwings. Attract soldier beetles to the garden by planting goldenrod, milkweed, hydrangeas, and […] More
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Tachinid Fly Beneficial Insect
The tachinid fly is a beneficial insect. Tachnid fly larvae are parasitic; they feed on the living tissue and vital organs of many caterpillars including cabbage worms, cutworms, corn ear worms, sawfly larvae, and tobacco budworms. They also feed on Colorado potato beetles, cucumber beetles, Japanese beetles, and Mexican bean beetles. Adult tachinid flies are […] More
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Assassin Bug Beneficial Insect
Assassin bugs are beneficial insects. There are hundreds of species of assassin bugs. Assassin bugs have broad bodies and narrow heads with a sharp curved proboscis—like a beak–which they use to impale their prey—thus the name assassin bug. Assassin bugs feed on aphids, cabbage worm, Colorado potato beetles, cucumber beetles, cutworms, earwigs, Japanese beetles, lace […] More
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Praying Mantis Beneficial Insect
Praying mantids (plural praying mantis) are mostly beneficial insects. Praying mantids eat aphids, asparagus beetles, caterpillars, Colorado potato beetles, earwigs, leafhoppers, Mexican bean beetles, and squash bugs. Praying mantids also eat beneficial insects, butterflies, and bees. Attract praying mantids to the garden by planting shrubs and perennials that provide strong stems and branches in which […] More
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Honey Bee Beneficial Insect
Honey bees are important pollinators of vegetables, fruits, flowers and other plants. The honeybee is a beneficial insect. Attract honey bees to your garden by planting flowers high in nectar and pollen including asters, cosmos, calendula, snapdragons, zinnias, foxglove, sunflowers, mints, lavenders, borage, rosemary, Echinacea, and sages. Also provide a water source in dry weather […] More
Stephen Albert
