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Ontario Pesticide Ban
Fact Sheets
Beneficial Insects - Fact SheetOnly a few of the world’s 750,000 known insects are worthy of the label ‘pest’. Most are harmless, some are beneficial to your garden, and they all have a role to play. So the next time you spot an unfamiliar critter in your garden, consider it innocent until proven guilty. Beneficial insects provide a number of essential services including pest control, pollination and the breakdown of decaying matter.Attract and Protect Beneficial insects will help you attain great garden success. Follow these guidelines to attract and protect a diversity of garden allies:
Here is a list of beneficial insects commonly found in gardens. The larval (immature) form of most of these species differs greatly from the adult form. Familiarize yourself with the appearance, diet and shelter requirements of all life stages.
Adults range in colour from pale yellow to red to black and are often spotted. They are attracted to angelica, tansy and scented geraniums. Larvae look like spiny alligators. Both adults and larvae feed voraciously on small, soft pests such as aphids, mealybugs and spider mites. Lacewings
Adults of these mostly tiny and non-stinging wasps are attracted to members of the carrot and daisy families, strawberries and clover. Females inject their eggs into or onto pests such as aphids, flies, beetles and many caterpillars. Larvae grow by absorbing nourishment through their skin. See Common Garden Pests (Caterpillars). Tachinid Flies  These large, bristly, dark grey flies place their eggs on cutworms, sawflies,
stinkbugs and other pests. Adults are attracted to pollen and nectar plants including
bee balm, comfrey, rudbeckia and butterfly bush.
 Aphid MidgesDelicate, long-legged adults feed on the honeydew left by aphids. Larvae, which look like tiny orange maggots, voraciously consume aphids. Syrphid Flies Also known as hover flies, these black-and-yellow- and black-and-white-striped flies resemble wasps, but do not have stingers. They are attracted to bee balm, butterfly bush, marigold and members of the daisy family, and are highly effective pollinators. Females lay their eggs in aphid colonies. The greenish-grey larvae that emerge eat aphids in tight places too small for most other insects. True Bugs  This is the common name for insects in the Hemiptera order. Members of this order
have needle-like beaks for sucking fluids and leathery wings crossed flat over
their backs. Immature insects closely resemble adults. While some are garden
pests, many others are allies. Assassin, ambush and minute pirate bugs prey on
the tomato hornworm, thrips, leafhopper nymphs, corn earworms and a great number
of other pests.
Ground Beetles
Spiders  Although not insects, spiders are often grouped with them. Some of the best predators
in the garden, spiders catch their prey in webs or leap on their prey using silk
thread as a dragline. Common garden spiders do not move indoors come fall and
are nonpoisonous.
Earthworms  Earthworms — also not insects — are highly beneficial in gardens. Referred to
as ‘nature’s plow’, earthworms aerate and enrich the soil. Worms are highly sensitive
to chemical and physical changes, so avoid any synthetic fertilizers, and minimize
tillage.
As you get to know the residents of your garden, you’ll find it’s an ever-changing delight to take time to stop and look, to see who’s at work today, to observe the ones who’ve been working all week, and to welcome the new helpers. When autumn comes, check out Putting The Garden to Bed for ways to keep those helpers coming to your special garden. Reprinted & adapted with permission of the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority See also: Gardening for Wildlife and Plants That Attract Beneficial Insects to the Garden Learn more about the insect world by exploring resources at the Stratford Public Library for additional information! 19 St. Andrew Street (519-271-0220) (Click for Website)
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