Category Beneficial Insects

The soldier beetle is very common in the garden and sometimes incidentally invade your home.These abundant beetles are sometimes called leather wings because of their soft clothlike wing covers.They earned the common name ‘soldier beetle’ because of the color pattern reminiscent of the early British soldiers red coats.

Cryptolaemus montrouzieri may be a handful of words for an insect, but those who work in the gardens know it by their more familiar name and trait – Mealybug Destroyer!The “Crypts” resemble the ladybug, and were therefore named the ladybug beetle, lady beetle or ladybird beetles. The similarity ends there, as the lady beetle is not known to aggregate or to disappear when released.

If you grow plants you’ve heard of the Aphid pest, but what is an Aphid Midge?What Is An Aphid Midge?Simply put, the aphid midge (Aphidoletes aphidimyza) is a good bug and aphid predator.The adult midge flits around your garden pollinating and looking rather fetching, but the real garden helper is in the larval stage.

The Assassin bug – you might not be too thrilled with the idea of armies of assassins lurking about your garden, but you should be.Assassin bugs are beneficial insects that make very handy garden helpers.There are thousands of varieties of assassin bugs, and all are voracious pest predators. They naturally kill aphid garden pests in large numbers and devour leaf caterpillars and even some very small mammals.

There are approximately 2000 different species of Tiger Beetles, all belonging to the order, Coleoptera.You will find the Tiger Beetle all around the world, and about 100 different species in North America.These helpful predatory beetles live in a wide range of settings from woodland areas to salt flats to the seaside, lakeshores, and riverside settings.

Green lacewings are small, delicate insects and members of the group of insects termed as “net-winged.”There are many different species of these dainty green creatures which you’ll find in all temperate and tropical parts of the world.Lacewings are extremely beneficial insects for biological pest control!

Did you ever notice the Hoverfly in your garden? Those tiny, yellow and black flying insects in your garden.When first observing these beneficial insects many wonder if they are honeybees, wasps or some other type of stinging insect.Chances are, your striped visitors are none of these. They are probably hoverflies, an industrious beneficial insect that can do your garden a lot of good.

Because of changes in climate, insects such as wasps are multiplying rapidly, which makes the need to get rid of wasps a more common occurrence.When there are few (or no) freezes through the winter months, adult insects do not die out. Furthermore, year-round warmth extends the breeding season.For these reasons, wasps and other insects are becoming a problem for more people.

Are you familiar with the braconid wasp?If you have ever seen a tomato hornworm struggling to carry what looks like a load of white rice on its back and sides late in the summertime – you have?These small, white cylinders are actually tiny cocoons containing the larvae of the braconid wasp (Braconidae).