Many people try to rid their gardens of insects, but many of these little creatures can benefit the garden in various ways. Some of these insects are useful, as some pollinate flowers while others help protect plants from pests.
Therefore, it is essential to know which insects are helpful and which ones can cause harm so that you don’t get rid of the good ones.
Below is a list of beneficial insects and other helpful creatures that can benefit your garden.
1. Bees
Bees are among the most helpful insects. Many people tend to be terrified of them, but their presence is vital for the growth of many crops.
They are obviously great pollinators, and pollination assists in the fertilization of your plants. Many plants require cross-pollination in order to thrive, and bees are able to provide just that.
Moreover, you usually don’t have to do any special work to get them close, as bright flowers will attract bees.
2. Ladybugs
The adult ladybug (otherwise called the ladybird beetle or lady beetle) feeds on mealybugs, aphids, and mites, but their larvae feed even more voraciously.
These helpful insects are some of the most visible in the garden. They also have many uses, making their visible presence worth it.
To attract ladybugs to your garden, plant angelica, fennel, marigolds, coreopsis, yarrow, and/or dill.
3. Earthworms
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Earthworms have some tremendous benefits for your soil. The way they move around the soil helps create air pockets for the plants to breathe.
Moreover, earthworm casts help improve soil fertility [1]. Soil is the foundation of your garden. So, if your soil is healthy, you are one step closer to healthy plants.
Earthworms love organic matter like 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 Fly
Attract the Tachinid Fly by planting different herbs, such as parsley or dill.
These useful farm insects are small and harmless to your garden, but they have major potential. The larvae are able to attack caterpillars and burrow their way inside, eventually killing them.
Tachinid flies will also kill other pests, such as grasshoppers and moths.
5. Soldier Beetles
Picture via Stu’s Images
These insects eat aphids, caterpillars, and other soft-bodied pests.
This is great if your garden is overrun with pests. Moreover, soldier beetles also help with pollination [2].
If you want to attract these good garden beetles, plant hydrangea, catnip, and/or goldenrod.
6. Minute Pirate Bugs
Minute pirate bugs are great at combating harmful insects. They will go after mites, whiteflies, thrips, and other pests that they come into contact with.
Use daisies, corn, yarrow, or alfalfa to attract these predatory bugs.
7. Green Lacewing
Most gardens seem to be overrun by little red mites, but the green lacewing can reduce their presence significantly.
They 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 also work well with most other good insects because they do not prey on them.
Plant Cosmos, Angelica, Sweet Alyssum, and Coreopsis to attract lacewings to your garden.
8. Wasps
Are wasps useful? Definitely! If you can get past the stinging capabilities of wasps, they are actually very valuable to your garden.
They eat many garden pests, including mites, aphids, caterpillar eggs, and others. Besides, wasps assist with pollination.
Wasps (paper wasps, yellow jackets, European hornets, etc.) primarily feed on creepy crawlies that could be damaging to crops.
You will have plenty of wasps in the area if there are flowering plants around.
9. Damsel Bugs
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These are good bugs for the garden that are capable of eating bad insects that are even larger in size.
Damsel bugs are most helpful in vegetable gardens. They are bugs that eat aphids and prey on small caterpillars, thrips, leafhoppers, and other pests.
These helpful bugs tend to stick around if you have a variety of flowering plants planted nearby.
10. Aphid Midge
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The larvae of these small black flies are predators of over 60 species of aphids. They have a very short lifespan, but they reproduce quickly.
Pollen and nectar plants can attract them to your garden.
Aphid midges get their name not because they are destructive but because their larvae feed primarily on aphids.
11. Garden Spiders
The garden spider that you see around you may not be dangerous. In fact, they can help lower your risk of getting bitten by some annoying pests.
Garden spiders create webs that trap flying insects. They will trap and eat mosquitoes, flies, moths, and wasps.
These spiders create their webs between taller plants, so consider planting corn, sunflowers, and other tall plants to stimulate their activity.
12. Ground Beetle
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A single ground beetle is capable of consuming hundreds of caterpillars [3]. They are most agile at removing pesky critters from the soil.
They aid in combating slugs and snails, wireworms, ants, and even maggots. These helpful beetles are so good for the garden because they may also eat weed seeds.
Plant red clover or white clover to help attract them and keep them around.
13. Dragonfly
A dragonfly is extremely efficient, as they are capable of consuming hundreds of mosquitoes per day, which is amazing. They also go after other pests like gnats and biting flies.
Unlike other pests, dragonflies are not creepy. Many people find them to be beautiful and graceful creatures, so they enjoy their presence.
Place water in or around your garden and yard to keep them around.
14. Braconid Wasp
Braconid wasps are parasitic on little creatures like caterpillars and aphids.
Their larvae feed inside the host pest, eventually killing it. Plant carrots, yarrow, dill, or parsley to attract them.
15. Spined Soldier Bug
These friendly bugs look very similar to the BMSB, but they have one distinctive difference. They have sharp, acute angles at their shoulders that distinguish them from pesky stink bugs.
In essence, the spined soldier bug is a predatory stink bug. They can help control beetle larvae and hairless caterpillars.
Takeaway
Any organic garden could see benefits from having these important creatures present because they eat many different kinds of harmful bugs and insects. For that reason, plant flowering plants to help attract these good garden bugs.
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