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As soon as the sun begins to warm, hordes of insects appear on our plots. And all as one – pests. Modern chemicals can destroy them quickly, but many summer residents are confused by the word “chemical”. I would like to grow environmentally friendly products! And this is possible if you call for help … insects. Yes, yes, among them there are not only harmful, but also beneficial insects – they destroy pests, and in large quantities.
ladybug
This insect is considered one of the main entomophages (1), that is, it eats pests.
Who is destroyed. Aphids, mites, psyllids, small caterpillars, butterfly eggs and pupae of other insects are all included in the diet of this beautiful beetle. And in the hungry years, also the eggs of the Colorado potato beetle. One female eats up to 4 thousand pests per season, and each larva eats up to 800 thousand!
How to attract. Collect insects in the nearest field and carry them to the garden.
Plant daisies, dill, red elderberry – they attract spotted beetles.
Leave fallen leaves for the winter – ladybugs hibernate in them.
Sow one-year-old lupine – adult beetles love to settle on it. And then mow it – beneficial insects will move to fruit trees and destroy up to 80% of aphids and suckers. The remains of lupine, by the way, can be dug up – this is an excellent fertilizer for the soil.
Gold-eyed
The main enemies of insect pests are not the lacewings themselves, but their larvae. Moreover, for effective hunting, they usually disguise themselves – they attach plant debris and skins of dead insects to their backs (2).
Who is destroyed. Its diet includes aphids and beetle larvae. One lacewing larva destroys up to 500 pests.
How to attract. Plant ferns and shrubs in a shady place in the garden – the lacewing likes to lay larvae on their leaves. Break a flower bed of continuous flowering – it will be chosen by adults. Hang a lantern with yellow light on the street (an ordinary incandescent lamp will do) – at night, lacewings will flock to the light from all around, and during the day they will settle in the garden.
For the winter, make a shelter for them in the form of small wooden houses stuffed with straw.
Mukha-jurchalka
Its correct name is flower hoverfly (3). Outwardly, it looks like a bee – this is how the insect disguises itself from predators.
Who is destroyed. Aphids – each larva eats up to 700 pests.
How to attract. Plant yellow flowers in the garden – hoverflies are especially fond of them.
For the winter, place small wooden boxes filled with dry grass on the plot in a secluded place. This will attract beneficial insects to the garden.
Ground beetles
Ground beetles have been used for a long time and very successfully for pest control in agriculture (4). This means that it is time for them to find a worthy application on personal plots.
Who is destroyed. Ground beetles feed on small insects and their larvae, slugs, and wireworms.
How to attract. Make shelters in the garden with foliage and small piles of rocks.
beauty
These are large and very beautiful beetles, which are used in forestry to control caterpillars of harmful butterfly species. And in the garden they bring no less benefit. In Our Country, there are 14 species (5) of these insects, and they all destroy pests.
Who is destroyed. Their menu includes silkworm and moth larvae. One beetle eats more than 10 caterpillars per day. They hunt for “hairy” caterpillars, which even birds bypass, in addition to beauties, they are eaten only by cuckoos.
How to attract. Make shelters in the garden with foliage and small piles of rocks.
Earwig
Yes, yes, this is the same muck that looks like a cricket and a cockroach with two ovipositor tails, for which it is popularly called a two-tail. And they got the name “earwig” due to the myth – it is believed that the insect crawls into the ear of a sleeping person, gnaws through the eardrum, gets to the brain and lays eggs there (6). But, of course, this is fiction. In fact, it is not at all scary, but very useful.
Who is destroyed. Caterpillars, aphids, pupae and eggs of various insects – they all form the basis of her menu.
How to attract. Lay out old boards or burlap on the ground in secluded places in the garden – these beneficial insects will hide under them during the day.
Mantis
The most famous species among these insects is the common praying mantis (also known as the religious praying mantis) (7). He is also disliked by many, he looks scary, and even healthy. But in the garden it is a complete benefit.
Who is destroyed. Praying mantis larvae feed on aphids, while adult insects destroy grasshoppers, locusts, various flies and small butterflies.
How to attract. Sow peas on the plot – the praying mantis lays eggs only on this plant.
Additional Measures to Attract Beneficial Insects
There are a few more simple tricks that will help beneficial insects make the right choice – to settle on your hundred square meters:
- plant a hedge around the plot, and if the plot is large, then also trees – spruce, pine, linden, willow, alder or viburnum – in such plantings ground beetles, ladybugs, lacewings, praying mantises and predatory bugs will find shelter birds – starlings, tits, flycatchers, which also willingly eat pests;
- create a garden of continuous flowering – plant vegetables and flowers that will bloom all summer. It is very good if there are phacelia, mustard, buckwheat, onions, lemon balm, carrots, dill, valerian, oregano, fireweed, angelica, veronica on the site – this is a great way to attract beneficial insects to the garden;
- make corners in the gardens with perennial legumes, for example, clover, alfalfa, vetch and mow them periodically – then beneficial insects will migrate to the crowns of trees and destroy pests, and the legumes themselves can be dug up with the soil – this is an excellent organic fertilizer;
- mulch near-trunk circles under trees and shrubs with humus and water them from time to time – ground beetles and hoverflies will settle there;
- lay out small boards, bricks, flat stones on the site – they should lie so that one of their ends is raised above the ground by 1 – 1,5 cm – ground beetles will hide under these shelters during the day, and in the evening they will crawl out to guard your crop.
Popular questions and answers
We talked about beneficial insects in the garden with agronomist-breeder Svetlana Mikhailova.
Can beneficial insects completely destroy pests?
Will beneficial insects harm plants?
Where do beneficial insects hibernate?
Sources of
- Savoyskaya G.I. Coccinellides (systematics, application in pest control of agriculture) // Alma-Ata, publishing house “Nauka” of the Kazakh SSR, 1983 – 248 p.
- Catherine A. Tauber, Maurice J. Tauber, Gilberto S. Albuquerque // Debris-Carrying in Larval Chrysopidae: Unraveling Its Evolutionary History // Annals of the Entomological Society of America, 1.03.2014 – Vol. 107, iss. 2
- Mamaev B.M., Medvedev L.N., Pravdin F.N. Key to insects in the European part of the USSR // Moscow: Prosveshchenie, 1976 – 304 p.
- Cardenas, A.M. Distribution and Potential Range Expansion of Seven Introduced Ground Beetle Species (Coleoptera: Carabidae) in Québec, Canada / A. M. Cardenas, C. M. Buddle // The Coleopterists Bulletin, 2007 – Vol. 61
- Kryzhanovsky O. L. Genus Amara Bon. Fauna of the USSR, Coleoptera (Volume I, issue 2) // Leningrad, Nauka, 1983
- Friedrichsen, G W S, Robert W Burchfield. The Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology / Onions C. T. – 1996 // United Kingdom, Oxford University: Oxford University Press, 1966
- Striganova B.R., Zakharov A.A. Five-language Dictionary of Animal Names: Insects (Latin–English-German-French) / Ed. Dr. Biol. sciences, prof. Striganova B.R. // M.: RUSSO, 2000