16
Jul 18
7 Insects You Actually Want In Your Garden
Not all bugs are pests! Here’s how to roll out the welcome mat for insects that are actually good for your garden.

1. Hoverfly
Benefits of having hoverflies in your garden: Maggots eat softbodied pests such as aphids.
Bait hoverflies with: Feverfew, lavender, sweet alyssum, candytuft, dill, fennel, asters.

2. Ladybugs
Benefits of having ladybugs in your garden: They eat aphids and other softbodied pest eggs, scales and whitefly nymphs.
Bait ladybugs with: Asters, marigolds, cosmos, cilantro, yarrow, dill, cabbages, sweet alyssum, flowering kale.

3. Ground Beetles
Benefits of having ground beetles in your garden: They will destroy slugs, snails, cutworms, flies and rootmaggot eggs and larvae.
Bait ground beetles with: Sweet or white clover and other ground covers; also use mulch to provide habitat.

4. Lacewings
Benefits of having lacewing in your garden: Lacewing larvae prey on pest eggs, aphids, scales and small caterpillars.
Bait lacewing with: Most pollen and nectar flowers, dill, daisies, fennel, angelica.

5. Aphid Midges
Benefits of having aphid midges in your garden: Immature insects (including midges) feed on many species of aphids.
Bait aphid midges with: Nectar-rich flowers and herbs, including Queen Anne’s lace, dill, mustards.

6. Parasitic Wasps
Benefits of having parasitic wasps in your garden: They act as parasites by laying eggs in caterpillar and aphid larvae.
Bait parasitic wasps with: Dill, mint, sage, thyme, lavender, coriander, Queen Anne’s lace, sunflowers.

7. Bumblebees, Honeybees, Mason Bees
Benefits of having bees in your garden: They pollinate food crops.
Bait honeybees with: Orchard fruits, mustards, cress, wildflowers, clover, blueberries, hollyhock.
BY CHRISTINA SYMONS