10 Beneficial Garden Insects to Encourage in Your Garden

1. Ladybugs – Ladybugs are attractive and beneficial insects that are known to feed on aphids, scale insects, and other soft-bodied pests that can damage plants. They prefer warm, sunny weather and are most active during the spring and summer. Perfect in South Africa. To encourage ladybugs to propagate, you can plant nectar-rich flowers like marigolds, daisies, and yarrow. You can also purchase ladybugs online or from garden centers and release them in your garden. Definitely the number one purchase.

2. Lacewings – Lacewings are another predator of aphids and other soft-bodied insects. They prefer warm, humid weather and are most active during the summer. The same flowers planted for Ladybugs also encourage Lacewings.

3. Hoverflies – Hoverflies are important pollinators as adults, but their larvae are also voracious predators of aphids and other soft-bodied insects. Another insect perfect for the warm, South Africa climate. To encourage propagation, plant flowers like alyssum, fennel, and dill, which are attractive to both adult hoverflies and their larvae. Plus may be tasty to humans as well.

4. Praying Mantises (or is it Mantese? 😉) – Praying mantises are scary looking, alien predators that will eat almost anything they can catch, including caterpillars, grasshoppers, and even other praying mantises. They prefer warm, sunny weather and are most active during the summer. To encourage praying mantises to propagate, you can provide them with plenty of hiding places, like tall grasses and shrubs. You can also purchase praying mantis egg cases online or from garden centers and release them in your garden.

5. Braconid Wasps – Braconid wasps are tiny parasitic wasps that lay their eggs inside the bodies of caterpillars and other pests. They will like the South African summers but prefer humidity. To encourage braconid wasps to propagate, you can plant flowers like goldenrod, daisies, and Queen Anne’s lace, which are attractive to adult braconid wasps.

6. Tachinid Flies – Tachinid flies are another group of parasitic insects that lay their eggs inside the bodies of caterpillars and other pests. To encourage tachinid flies to propagate, they like zinnias, marigolds, and sunflowers.

7. Ground Beetles – Ground beetles are predators that feed on a variety of pests, including slugs, snails, and cutworms. They prefer cool, moist weather and are most active during the spring and fall. To encourage ground beetle propagation, you can provide them with plenty of hiding places, like mulch, leaf litter, and rocks. Birds like ground beetles as well and encouraging the bird population also assists in managing pests.

8. Minute Pirate Bugs – Minute pirate bugs are tiny but fierce (to small insects, that is) and they feed on aphids and other small insects. Also summer lovers. Flowers like daisies, goldenrod, and yarrow are the aphrodisiacs to these little soldiers.

9. Green Lacewings. Green lacewings are similar to lacewings, but they have bright green bodies and large, delicate-looking wings. Like lacewings, their larvae are voracious predators of aphids, mites, and other soft-bodied insects. The larvae have long, curved mandibles that they use to pierce and suck the juices out of their prey. (Yum yum) Warm stimulates their appetite as well. To encourage green lacewings to mate in your vegetable garden, you can plant flowers like daisies, goldenrod, and yarrow. You can also purchase green lacewing eggs or larvae online or from garden centers and release them in your garden. In addition to planting flowers and releasing green lacewing eggs or larvae, you can also create a suitable habitat for these beneficial insects. Green lacewings prefer sheltered areas with plenty of vegetation, so you can provide them with hiding places by planting tall grasses, shrubs, and other plants around the perimeter of your garden. You can also create a simple green lacewing habitat by filling a shallow tray or dish with water and adding a few drops of dish soap to break the surface tension. The green lacewings will be attracted to the water and will lay their eggs on the surface, where the larvae can hatch and feed on any nearby pests.

10. Spiders – Spiders are not technically insects, but they are beneficial predators that help keep pest populations in check. They feed on a wide variety of insects, including aphids, caterpillars, and even other spiders. Spiders are found in almost all climates and weather conditions, and they are active year-round. To encourage spiders to mate, you can provide them with plenty of hiding places, like plants, rocks, and mulch. They clearly like privacy.

Conclusion

Reduce your use of pesticides and other chemical treatments, which can harm useful insects like spiders, as well as your other beneficial insects.

Happy insect breeding

Bruce