Sasha CampbellMany people try to get rid of insects in their gardens. But not all insects are bad. Many actually help your plants grow and stay healthy.
Some insects pollinate flowers, while others eat harmful garden pests.
Therefore, it is essential to recognize which insects are helpful and which are harmful. This way, you will not lose the good ones.
List of Beneficial Insects and Creatures for Your Garden
1. Bees
Bees are among the most helpful insects. Many people are terrified of them, but they play a vital role in the growth of many crops.
Bees carry pollen from flower to flower. This helps many fruits, vegetables, and flowers grow.
Planting a variety of colorful flowers will attract bees.
2. Ladybugs
Adult ladybugs, also called lady beetles or ladybirds, eat aphids, mealybugs, and mites. Their larvae eat even more.
These helpful insects are some of the most visible in the garden. They also have many uses, making their visible presence worthwhile.
Plant angelica, fennel, marigolds, coreopsis, yarrow, or dill. They will attract ladybugs to your garden.
3. Earthworms
Image: Photo titled “Vermiculture” by John Lodder, available on Flickr, used under a Creative Commons license (some rights reserved)
Earthworms do many good things for your soil. As they tunnel through the soil, they create tiny air spaces that help plant roots get oxygen and water.
Moreover, earthworm casts help improve soil fertility [1]. Healthy soil helps grow healthy plants.
Earthworms thrive on organic matter, such as decaying leaves, rotten logs, and manure piles. A great way to encourage their presence is to mulch with dried leaves or pine needles.
4. Tachinid Flies
Attract tachinid flies by planting herbs such as parsley or dill.
These beneficial garden insects are small and harmless to your garden. Their larvae develop inside harmful caterpillars and other pests, helping keep their numbers down.
Tachinid flies also kill other pests, including grasshoppers and moths.
5. Soldier Beetles
Image credit: “Chauliognathus lugubris, Plague Soldier Beetle, Sydney, Australia” by Stu’s Images, available via Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
These insects eat aphids, caterpillars, and other soft-bodied pests. Soldier beetles also help with pollination [2].
Plant hydrangeas, catnip, or goldenrod to attract them.
6. Minute Pirate Bugs
Image attribution: “Orius sp. 02” by AfroBrazilian, available via Wikimedia Commons, licensed under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license.
Minute pirate bugs are great at combating harmful insects. They feed on mites, whiteflies, thrips, and other tiny pests.
Plant daisies, corn, yarrow, or alfalfa to attract these predatory bugs.
7. Green Lacewings
Spider mites and other tiny mites can damage many garden plants. However, the green lacewing can reduce them.
Green lacewings feed on mites, whiteflies, caterpillars, insect eggs, aphids, thrips, and leafhoppers.
Moreover, you can purchase them online or at some gardening centers.
These beneficial garden insects mostly feed on harmful garden pests. Plant cosmos, angelica, sweet alyssum, and coreopsis to attract lacewings to your garden.
8. Wasps
A common question is “Are wasps useful?” Definitely!
If you can get past the stinging capabilities of wasps, they are very valuable to your garden.
Many wasps, especially paper wasps, help control garden pests by feeding them to their young. Some wasps also help pollinate flowers.
If flowering plants are around, you may find plenty of wasps in the area.
9. Damsel Bugs
Image attribution: “Damsel Bug – Flickr – treegrow (2)” by Katja Schulz, available via Wikimedia Commons. Originally published on Flickr, licensed under the CC BY 2.0 license.
These are good garden bugs that can eat harmful insects, even those larger than themselves.
Damsel bugs are most helpful in vegetable gardens. They are insects that prey on aphids and other small pests, such as caterpillars and thrips.
These helpful bugs tend to stick around if there are nearby flowering plants.
10. Aphid Midges
Image: “Predatory Midge” (cropped) by Whitney Cranshaw, Colorado State University, sourced from Invasive.org via Wikimedia Commons, licensed under the CC BY 3.0 US license.
The larvae of these small black flies prey on over 60 species of aphids. They have a very short lifespan but reproduce rapidly.
Pollen and nectar plants can attract them to your garden. Aphid midges are named for their larvae, which eat aphids.
11. Garden Spiders
Most garden spiders are harmless to people and help catch unwanted insects. They can help reduce your risk of being bitten by many annoying pests.
Garden spiders create webs that trap flying insects. They trap and eat mosquitoes, flies, and moths.
These spiders make webs between taller plants. So, plant corn, sunflowers, and other tall plants to attract them.
12. Ground Beetles
Ground beetles can eat hundreds of harmful insects during their lives [3]. They are especially good at hunting pests that live on or in the soil.
They help combat slugs and snails, wireworms, ants, and even maggots (such as seed corn maggots). These helpful beetles are suitable for the garden because they may also eat weed seeds.
Plant red or white clover to attract and retain these beneficial insects.
13. Dragonflies
Dragonflies eat many mosquitoes and other flying insects, helping reduce pest numbers. It also targets other pests, such as gnats and biting flies.
Unlike many insects, dragonflies are often seen as beautiful and graceful.
Place water in or around your garden and yard to attract dragonflies.
14. Braconid Wasps
Phaenocarpa Species of Braconid Wasp — Photo by Judy Gallagher, via Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY 2.0.
Braconid wasps lay their eggs inside harmful pests such as caterpillars and aphids. Their young develop inside the pest, eventually killing it. Plant carrots, yarrow, dill, or parsley to attract them.
15. Spined Soldier Bugs
Image credit: “Podisus maculiventris (Spined Soldier Bug)” by xpda (Robert Webster), available via Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 license.
Spined soldier bugs are among the bugs that help a garden.
These helpful bugs look like the brown marmorated stink bug (BMSB), a common garden pest. But they have one key difference. They have pointed shoulders that help tell them apart from harmful stink bugs.
In essence, the spined soldier bug is a predatory stink bug. It can help control beetle larvae and hairless caterpillars.
Takeaway
Beneficial insects and other helpful creatures make gardening easier. They pollinate flowers, improve the soil, and eat harmful pests.
By planting a variety of flowers and avoiding unnecessary pesticides, you can encourage these helpful garden visitors to stay.
Very good information for school projects based on gardens.