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Ground beetles are commonly found throughout North America and are common in most gardens. There are more than 2500 species, which feed mainly on soil dwelling insects such as cutworms, slugs, cabbage root maggots and sometimes on earthworms and snails. Some species will also feed upon insects that live on plants such as the tent caterpillar or gypsy moth for many will climb trees in search for food. Adults are 3/4"-1" long, blue-black or brown and sometimes iridescent. They hide during the day under stones or other cover, they do not fly, but they can run very fast and are voracious feeders, feeding mainly at night. Sometimes they scurry into buildings in search of their prey, especially those with cement or stone floors. Ground beetle hibernate in the soil and emerge from their pupal cell to lay eggs in the soil. The larvae (grubs) are dark brown to black with projecting jaws and a pair of bristly appendages at the end of the body. They are not seen as frequently as the adults, but are just as predaceous and can eat more than 50 caterpillars in its life time. After feeding for 2-4 weeks they then pupate in the soil; adults will remain in the soil for the winter months and emerge in the spring. Adults are long lived and can live up to 2 years. To attract ground beetles to your garden, provide permanent beds and perennial plantings to protect populations. Create permanent pathways made of sod, clover or stone to provide refuge.
Hover flies are brightly colored flies that resemble bees and are often seen hovering over flowers like hummingbirds. They are flower pollinators and feed on flower nectar, but are also attracted to tree sap and fermenting fruit. A few larvae species are injurious to plants such as the narcissus bulb fly, while others feed on decaying animal and vegetable matter, but the majority, that is the larvae, are predaceous feeders of aphids, mealybugs and other insects. Adults can be yellow with black stripes or white with black stripes and are 1/2"-5/8" long. Female adults lay white, elongated eggs singly among groups of aphids, where in 2-3 days the eggs hatch and the new larvae begin feeding on the aphids. The larvae are greenish or tan, slug-like and footless and have pointed jaws which they use to grasp the aphid, raise it in the air and suck out its bodily fluids, leaving nothing but a shell. In one minute, one larvae can consume one aphid. Feeding will last from 3-4 weeks by which time the larvae drop to the soil and pupate. In about 2 weeks adults will emerge from the soil. There can be from 2-4 generations per year. Various species are native throughout North America. Attract these to the garden by planting pollen and nectar rich flowers. Flowering weeds like the wild carrot and the yarrow will also attract them.
With several species found throughout North America, this family of beneficial wasps are an important and natural control of such harmful and destructive insects as beetles, caterpillars, sawflies and others. Adult wasps are dark colored and are very slender, with elongated abdomens and long antennae. They can vary in length from 1/10"- 1 1/2" and they often have a ovipositor than can be much longer than the body, which is not used for stinging. One species has a body that is 11/2" long and an ovipositor that is 3" long, which is used to penetrate the bark of trees to parasitize horntails. Female adults lay eggs inside the host insects eggs or the host larvae itself. The hosts are eventually killed as the larvae develop within, then pupation take place in or on them. Several species will over winter as mature larvae in a cocoon. Depending on the species, there can be from 3-10 generations per year. Attract these to your garden by planting pollen and nectar-rich flowers.
Commonly found throughout North America, lacewings are not a garden pest, but a beneficial insect that are a gardeners best friend. They feed on destructive insects such as aphids, mealybugs, mites, cottony-cushion scales and sometimes thrips. There are several species of the lacewing, but the most common in the eastern gardens is the Golden-eye Lacewing. The adults can be recognized by their beautiful gauzy green, transparent wings, long hair-like antennae and iridescent red-gold eyes. Oval eggs are laid at the end of small, fine, hair-like stalks in the spring. It is rather unusual how the eggs are placed, but they are separated on these stalks, so that the cannibalistic offspring cannot eat each other when they hatch, in a about a week or less. The larvae, called Aphid-lions, are 1/3" long, with a flat body tapered at both ends, yellow or gray, mottled with red or brown they have double, sickle shaped jaws for capturing other insects. They have an unusual habit of carrying their victims remains piled up on their backs. They will continue to feed for about 3 weeks, then pupate in a globe shaped cocoon, usually on the underside of a leaf. In about a week, they cut out a small opening that swings back like the hinge on a door and emerge as adults. There are 3-4 generation per year. In western gardens, the California Green Lacewing is common and is similar to the eastern species. Two other western species are the Pacific Brown Lacewing which is an important predator of mites and sometimes aphids, these are smaller than green lacewings and less noticeable. Adults are pale to dark brown and covered with short hair. The spindle shaped larva are know by Aphid-wolf. The Slender Brown Lacewing could be considered the most beneficial of the western lacewings because the larvae feed on many species of mealybugs. The adults are very small, slender and brown.
Lady beetles, sometimes referred to as ladybird beetles and ladybugs are members of the Coccinellidae family, which means scarlet red. Except for one genus within this family that contains the Mexican bean and squash beetles, all other members in this family are beneficial predators of various detrimental insects such as aphids, mealybugs, spider mites, soft scales and other soft bodied insects. Many species of the lady beetle are commonly found throughout North America and one species in particular, Hippodamia convergens, the convergent lady beetle is commercially sold, but this particular beetle is not recommended for outdoor release due to its migration to the Sierra Nevada Mountains to over winter and is best reserved for indoor use such as in greenhouses, however there are other species that make good candidates for use in the outdoors. As most of us would think, lady beetles are red with two black dots on their back, but they can also be several other colors, from pale yellow to dark reddish orange with or without black spots and some species that are all black or black with red spots. These are very small insects, usually 1/6"-1/4" long and round to broadly oval in shape. Larvae have carrot or spindle shaped bodies, broad at the head end and narrowing to the rear with a warty, alligator-like texture and a black body with blue or orange spots. In the Spring, adults that have over wintered will lay orange colored eggs among aphids and other types of prey which hatch in 3-5 days. The larvae will then feed on their hosts for 2-3 weeks, then pupate. Adults will emerge in about a week and in the Fall, local species will over winter in compost, leaf litter or other organic debris in the garden. To attract lady beetles to the garden plant pollen and nectar rich flowers, but in order to keep the aphid eating species around, a lot of aphids in the garden will be required to maintain them. When aphid populations drop, most of the beetles end up starving to death, so the species seems to disappear until a new population of aphids begins again. Some species though, such as those that feed on mealybugs and scales can still survive when they have reduced the insects to a low population. |
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Lacewings (Chrysoperla)