If you’re afraid of certain bugs, or just insects in general, then it can be difficult to allow them to stay in your garden sanctuary. It’s never relaxing to find a yellow jacket hovering around your precious plants. But these bugs can prove to be more beneficial than detrimental:
1. Syrphid flies — These are also known as sweat bees or hover flies. These harmless little flies are actually nectar- and pollen-feeders during their adult stage. During their larval stage, they are voracious feeders and prefer to eat aphids, scale insects and thrips. One way to encourage Syrphid flies is to keep a continuous nectar source in your garden. Among the best plants for this is sweet alyssum.
2. Praying mantis — Mantis are ambush predators and prefer to eat soft-bodied pests such as caterpillars and grubs. They also will eat cabbage moths. The egg sack of the mantis is equally strange looking and can startle people who are not accustomed to their rough papery appearance. Learn how to identify its egg sack so that during garden clean-up you can set it aside in a safe place.
3. Spiders — Spiders tend to feed on caterpillars, leaf hoppers, aphids, cucumber beetles, thrips and flies. An abundance of spiders in the garden means there’s a lot of prey around. A healthy garden will have a diversity of spiders.
4. Wasps and yellow jackets — These stinging insects aren’t too interested in humans. The overly large stinger of most nectar-feeding wasps is often used as a method of injecting eggs into a soft-bodied host. To encourage beneficial wasps, provide a continuous nectar source throughout the growing season. One of the best nectar sources for beneficial wasps comes from flowers in the allium family.
5. Pirate bugs — This is a scenario where nature gets a little bit complicated. There are some cases where large numbers of pirate bugs can be a nuisance to people, even biting them. However, as a beneficial insect, pirate bugs are exceedingly good at hunting thrips, mites, insect eggs, caterpillars and aphids. As a gardener, one must decide if the benefit outweighs the side-effect. Personally, I have only found them to be of benefit.
Are there other bugs you’ve found to be beneficial to your garden? Let us know in the comments!
Article Source: Off The Grid News
