That Burns My Biscuits!
Published 8:37 am Tuesday, May 14, 2019
For many years, we have worked so hard at eradicating the hated insects that destroy everything from our food to our very homes, that we forget that there are good or “beneficial” bugs. These little darlings eat the bad boys and they and their larvae can, on a good day, often wipe out an entire generation of the destructive ones.
Today, we shall meet some of these beneficial insects that can be ordered by mail and introduced into your garden and yards to help you get rid of the “bad boys” of the insect world. Then, we will discover the good bugs that live in our gardens that can be more efficient and much safer than any pesticide.
Always, before ordering any beneficial bugs, keep your space where they are to be introduced pesticide-free for at least a month before their arrival as they are very sensitive to the poison. Also, with the poison absent, bad bug populations will grow and your new beneficial bugs will have plenty of food to get started with.
Green lacewings: also called “aphid lions” and the larvae is called “aphid wolves.” Lacewings eat red spider mites, mealy bugs, thrips, and scale as well as many kinds of worms. Once you have introduced them, make them stay by supplying nectar, honeydew or pollen for the adult lacewings.
Ladybugs: there are 400 species in North America, the most important one for eating aphids, scale insects, leafhoppers, thrips, eggs and the larvae of harmful insects as well as many moths is the convergent ladybug. They love humidity and lots of drinking water. If you can get them to stay in your garden long enough to lay eggs, their larvae will eat millions of aphids in a few days. WOW!
Parasitic Nematodes: Sounds goulish, doesn’t it? They are microscopic roundworms that eat cutworms, army worms, root maggots, borers, wire worms and cabbage loopers. These will kill more than 200 species of insects, but do not harm earthworms or plants.
Parasitic wasps: extremely tiny wasps do not sting humans or animals, but can kill as many as 200 kinds of pests, mostly caterpillars. They also eat the larvae of beetles and flies.
There are many other beneficial bugs that can be ordered and delivered to your home to help with the control of pests. Check online at your local library for business’ names and addresses. Also, you may email me at burnsmybiscuits@gmail.com and I will send you a list of suppliers.
We are really blessed here to have so many native beneficial insects that can control the bad boys without any cost or damage to your family and pets. They already live in your garden or visit it daily, especially if you have provided plants that attract them; flowering herbs and wildflowers such as cosmos, daisies, white sweet alyssum, sunflowers, black-eyed Susans, oleander, yarrow, and tansy. The beneficial adult insects feed on nectar and honeydew. Jerusalem artichokes, strawflowers, wild carrots, parsnips, angelica and clover are very enticing and make good homes for them. Damsel flies and parasitic wasps’ tiny tongues need the delicate blossoms of Queen Anne’s Lace, coriander, dill, fennel, baby’s breath, and parsley. Provide the above plants and you will have a garden full of happy, fat bugs that are working very hard to rid your garden of the pesky ones.
First, let’s distinguish between the bugs and the beetles. True bugs are the assassin bugs, big-eyed bugs, damsel bugs, soldier bugs, ambush bugs and pirate bugs that eat millions of pests and their eggs. There are almost 300,000 species of beetles that work hard on the bad bug population, yet it’s hard to tell when they’re doing it. Old garden lore says that if it’s moving slow, stomp on it! If it’s moving fast, let it go, it’s probably on its way to eat a bad bug. Makes sense, doesn’t it? “Ground beetles,” 40,000 species of them, are mostly nocturnal and eat ants, aphids, cutworms, flies, gypsy moths, mosquitoes, slugs, snails, spider mites and termites in addition to many other pests. “Rove Beetles” are a deadly predator of cabbage beetles. The larvae of the “Soldier beetles” are the predators. Then there are the “tiger beetles” which eat aphids, caterpillars and other bugs.
Flies are all bad, right? No, some flies are actually predators of the ones who give us so much grief. For example, “robber flies” attack their prey in flight and their larvae eat insect larvae in the soil. “Syrphid flies” are yellow striped and resemble bees or wasps, a camouflage that works to protect them from birds and other predators. The larvae of these insects eat aphids, scale, leafhoppers, and thirps and the adults feed on nectar and are important pollinators. The “tachinid flies” resemble huge, hairy houseflies, but they are very good at getting rid of caterpillars. They glue their eggs on the caterpillars and the leaves it eats.
Some native beneficials are the “antlions”; they resemble the damselfly or “doodlebugs.” They dig a tiny pit in dry earth and wait for its victims to tumble in. They then jump on the unsuspecting victim, paralyze it, suck out its insides and tosses the body out of the pit. Now, that’s quick! Dragon flies love mosquitoes; they devour them in flight and toss the body. Fireflies, as larvae, eat cutworms and small insects.
Last, but not in any way least, is the praying mantis. We must give credit to the world’s greatest ambush predator; this huge bug lies patiently waiting for its prey, then attacks with lightning speed and eats it alive. It will eat great quantities of insects such as beetles, grasshoppers, but will also eat the beneficials, including bees and others of its own kind. While indeed a mighty hunter, we may want to just observe this one and not encourage it in our gardens.
So, there it is. We do not need to use deadly toxic pesticides in our gardens and homes to rid us of the hated bugs that plague us and destroy our health and property. With just a little help identifying, finding and/or ordering the beneficial ones can help us have a beautiful garden and/or yard filled with healthy flowers and vegetables. Good luck with your bug control.
Note: Much of the information for this column is from Tiny Game Hunting: Environmentally Healthy Ways to Trap and Kill the Pests in Your House and Garden, by Hilary Dole Klein & Adrian M. Wenner.
Tired of this subject? Want new ideas for “That Burns My Biscuits”? Email me at burnsmybiscuit@gmmail.com. I am always happy to share readers’ ideas and suggestions. Thank you.
You are in my prayers,
E.J.