Many insects crawl around our gardens and perform vital duties that help them grow.
Pollination is not the only benefit. Natural pest control and improved soil health are both important benefits of bugs. We may not always enjoy the look, but the advantages of hosting beneficial bugs in our garden greatly outweigh the appearance.
Beneficial – Pest Control Species
These naturally beneficial bugs perform valuable services such as pollination as well as pest control. Using these insects to control pests has been a common practice for many years now and is regularly implemented by many experienced gardeners.
Green Lacewings: Green lacewing larvae are a top exterminator of aphids. Nicknamed the “aphid lion”, they will devour them in scores.
Lady Beetles (Ladybugs): Both the adults and larvae feed on nearly every known garden pest. Lady Beetles will eat aphids, scale insects, thrips, mealybugs and mites.
Praying Mantis: As a generalist predator, a praying mantis is as likely to eat a beneficial insect as a pest. They are known to feed on aphids, caterpillars, earwigs, leafhoppers, squash bugs and just about anything else.
Ground Beetles: Ground beetle larvae develop in the soil and feed on slugs, root maggots, cutworms, and other pests on the ground. A few species will climb up plant stems to hunt caterpillars or insect eggs.
Spiders: Like praying mantids, spiders are generalist predators. While any spiders are beneficial to a garden, they are not very helpful in controlling an outbreak of one specific pest. Some common garden species include grass, orb web weaver, elongate, cob web weaver, jumping, wolf, daddy longlegs, sac and crab spiders.
Syrphid Flies: With looks akin to a bee, syrphid fly adults are beneficial for pollination. They are also called “hover flies” because they are often seen hovering over flowers. Syrphid maggots in the garden crawl on foliage searching for aphids to eat and are known to be good at squeezing into curled leaves where aphids hide.
Beneficial – Pollinating Species
Most pollinators are simply trying to feed, but the accidental act of pollinating is quite beneficial. The following insects are extremely important for pollinating garden plants and contributing to fruit, vegetable, and flower production:
Bees: Highly efficient and populous pollinators. They largely contribute to the collection and spreading of pollen.
Butterflies: While their bodies have less surface area to collect pollen, they gravitate and facilitate pollination of bright flowers with a larger surface area to land on.
Moths: They take the nighttime pollination shift.
Green Lacewings: The adults of this species feed on pollen, which gets transferred between flowers while feeding.
Flies (Syrphids, Tachinids, Black Soldier, and Bee Flies): Surprisingly significant pollinators right behind the bee. They have less surface area to carry pollen, but their numbers and frequency greatly contribute to pollination.
Wasps: Accidental pollinators that still keep that pollen moving effectively.
Blue Mason Bees (small blue bees often mistaken for flies): Springtime is their specialty, where they collect pollen on their bellies and carry from flower to flower.
