By: Candice Keast
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| Adult Ladybug - Coccinellidae |
Throughout the growing season, you'll definitely encounter a variety of different insects in your garden, depending on what you're growing. You might think that most insects are pests and bad for your garden but on the contrary: there are a number of beneficial insects that help keep your garden happy and healthy, naturally. There are three different types of beneficial insects: predatory, pollinators, and parasitizers.
In this blog post, I'll highlight a few garden guardians.
Ladybugs
Perhaps one of the most recognizable beneficial insects is the ladybug or lady beetle. Not just a pretty face, these bugs can eat up to 5,000 insects throughout their life. Ladybugs will eat aphids, scales, spider mites, and thrips.
Attract ladybugs by growing dill, dandelion, calendula, chives, cilantro, marigold, and yarrow.
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| Ladybug Larva - Coccinellidae |
Have you seen this bug roaming your garden? Don't let its
troublemaking look and spikey body intimidate you. I recently learned that
these bugs are ladybug larvae - this is what they look like before
they turn into the pretty red beetles with black spots. They're even more
helpful than adult ladybugs because their appetite for aphids is even bigger!
Lacewings
Green lacewings are
beautiful insects with large lacy wings and are excellent natural predators. Their larvae consume aphids, caterpillars, cutworms, whitefly, spider
mites, thrips, and mealybugs.
Attract lacewings by
growing dill, dandelion, cilantro, and Queen Anne's lace.
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| Green Lacewing - Chrysopidae |
Soldier beetle
Solider bugs are
cousins of stink bugs and eat aphids, cucumber beetle larvae, caterpillars, and
grasshopper eggs.
Attract soldier bugs by growing goldenrod, hydrangea, marigold, milkweed, and even catnip!
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| Soldier beetle - Cantharidae |
Assassin bugs
Assassin bugs are beneficial to your garden as they eat aphids, beetles, caterpillars, flies and mosquitoes. If you see an assassin bug in your garden, let it be. They are known to bite if touched or disturbed. See link below for picture.
Hoverflies
Adult hoverflies are
often mistaken for bees because of their colouring, but you can distinguish
them by looking at their wings. Bees and wasps have four wings, while
hoverflies have two. They hover and dart about, looking for pollen and nectar.
Also known as Syrphid fly, the adults are considered pollinators. However, the
larvae are very effective predators as they eat aphids and mealybugs.
Attract hoverflies by
growing calendula, dill, and garlic chives.
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| Hoveryfly - Syrphidae |
Native Bees
Did you know that
Toronto is home to over 360 species of bees? Pollinators
are critical to the survival of most food crops and flowering plants. In fact,
it is said that 1 out of every 3 bites of food is because of pollinators.
Unfortunately, native bees are in decline because of several factors, including
habitat loss, invasive species, pesticides, climate change, and more.
Furthermore, native bees are the most specialized and efficient pollinators.
When native bees disappear, they disappear forever.
Attract native bees by planting native plants like Anise hyssop, wild geranium, nodding onion and New England asters. Check out our Wild About Bees page for more native plant ideas.
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| Toronto's Official Bee - Agapostemon virescens |
Braconid Wasps
Braconid wasps are small, non-aggressive parasitoids. They sting and lay eggs inside of their prey's body. Their prey of choice are tomato hornworms, but if there's none around, they'll lay eggs in other pests like cabbage worms, aphids, beetle larvae, leaf miners, etc.
Attract braconids by growing carrots, dill, lemon balm, and parsley.
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| Braconid Wasp - Braconidae |
Honourable Mentions
Spiders and centipedes often get a bad rap because of their looks, but these insects are incredible for your garden. Centipedes will eat soil-dwelling pests like worms, slugs, and fly pupae. Most spiders you see in the garden are harmless to humans. If you see a spider in your garden, leave them be – they'll be doing you a favour by eating pests in your garden – including mosquitos!
If you want a more in-depth look at the insects listed above, check out this page.
As always, feel free to ask questions in the comment section below. If you come across a beneficial insect in your garden, share with us on social media by tagging @LiveGreenTO and using the hashtag #GetGrowing.
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