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Beneficial Insects in the Vegetable Garden

Posted on 02. Jul, 2009 by Tracey in Pests

For a few weeks now we have had a couple of hedgehogs in our garden which come out at dusk and roam around presumably looking for some crunchy snails for dinner. See my previous post ‘Hedgehogs – Gardeners Friend and Pest Control‘.

It is lovely to see wildlife in your garden when you least expect it. I was also picking my broad beans one morning before work and spotted a hoverfly, I’ve never seen one up close with its stripy body and transparent wings.

This made me wonder about all the good wildlife and insects in the garden as sometimes they are taken for granted or overlooked especially when the slugs get so much of gardeners attention. This is my ode to beneficial insects to the garden.

Hoverfly

Hoverflies only have 2 wings as they are part of the fly family. They are mistakenly identified as wasps or bees sometimes due to the similar markings, this is thought to be a way of protecting themselves from predators. There are 250 species of Hoverfly in the UK and they live in woodland areas, where they can burrow into rotten wood. Hoverflies eat nectar and pollen.

Why are Hoverflies handy to have in the vegetable garden?
The female hoverfly lays her eggs near to or on leaves of a plant that has an aphid problem, the larvae hatch a few days later and feed off the aphids.

Lacewing

Lacewings are green or brown and can be identified by their long transparent wings which stretch past the end of their bodies. There are 76 species in the UK and they eat pollen and nectar. They make their cone shaped pits in trees and shrubs.

Why do we need Lacewings in the vegetable garden?
Lacewings are a well known predator of Aphids and consume up to 600 of them in their lifetime. Their larvae young also feed on white flies, caterpillar eggs, nymphs, spider mites, mealy bugs and thrips. If you have a large aphid problem, they can be purchased through internet companies in tubes and lacewing chambers can be bought for them to hibernate over the winter.

Ladybirds

There are 42 species of Ladybirds found in the UK and they are usually red or yellow with varying amount of black or red spots. The most common is 6 or 7 spots. They live in woodlands, gardens, meadows and shrubs. Ladybirds have been in decline since the 90’s which is thought to be due to the parasitic wasp attacking them in great numbers. Other threats include the highly invasive Harlequin Ladybird which threatens our native UK populations.

What pests do Ladybirds control in the vegetable garden?
Ladybirds are very good pest control for aphids and greenfly. The adults and larvae are very good eaters and can make a real difference in the vegetable garden eradicating greenfly populations. Ladybirds will eat more than 5,000 aphids in their lifetime. Ladybird houses can be made or bought to provide a home for them in your garden.

My ode to beneficial insects in the garden continues next week with Beneficial Insects and Invertebrates in the Vegetable Garden – Part 2. If you would like to suggest any beneficial insects or wildlife you have spotted in your garden, please leave a comment below.

Other Posts you may be interested in:

• Beneficial Insects in the Vegetable Garden – Part 1
• Beneficial Insects and Invertebrates in the Vegetable Garden – Part 2
• Beneficial Bees and Parasitic Wasps in the Vegetable Garden – Part 3
• Pests – Whitefly
• Greenfly on Lettuce
• Attack of the Killer Aphids
• Hedgehog – Gardeners Friend and Pest Control

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