- Author: Elaine Lander
Beneficial insects can provide a lot of support in the garden. Natural enemies, which include predators, parasites, and pathogens, reduce pest populations and can help prevent damage to plants. Pollinators such as honeybees, native bees, butterflies, beetles, and other insects are essential for many vegetables you may be growing.
Natural Enemies
You may not have noticed many of these parasites, pathogens, and predators that help control pests in the garden, but they are there! Lady beetles (ladybugs), lacewings, and predaceous ground beetles are some common predators that you may find in your garden...
/h2>- Author: Elaine Lander
This year, National Pollinator Week is June 22 to June 28, celebrating the value that pollinators such as bees, birds, butterflies, bats, and beetles provide to the ecosystem.
Pollinators, and natural enemies, can be harmed by pesticides when people are trying to control pests in their gardens and landscapes. Pollinators can be killed or harmed if they are sprayed or exposed directly to a pesticide, and when they encounter pesticide residues in the environment. You can protect pollinators in your garden and landscapes by doing the following:
- Use pesticides sparingly. Many pests can be managed using an integrated approach without the need to...
- Author: Elizabeth E Grafton-Cardwell
- Editor: Elaine Lander
[This post has been modified from the article originally published in the Fall 2018 issue of the Retail Nursery and Garden Center IPM News.]
Citrus leafminer is a moth that arrived in California in 2000 and has invaded citrus throughout the state. This small moth lays its eggs on new, succulent citrus leaves. The larvae burrow through the soft leaf tissue, creating shallow meandering...
/span>Praying mantids are well-known predators we often see lurking around gardens, landscapes, and sometimes near porch lights, waiting for a tasty meal to arrive.
Praying mantid adults are 2 to 4 inches (5-10 cm) long and are usually yellowish, green, or brown. Mantids (often referred to as praying mantis) go through incomplete metamorphosis (egg, nymph, adult) and have one generation per year. Overwintering eggs are laid in groups in hard, grayish egg cases which are glued to wood, bark, or other plant material. Adults and immatures (nymphs) have an elongated thorax and grasping forelegs, which they have the...
This Earth Day, Sunday April 22, help natural enemies by growing insectary plants. Natural enemies, also called beneficials or biological control agents, include lady beetles (ladybugs), lacewings, spiders, parasitic wasps, and even some mites! These natural enemies feed on pests in the garden and landscape and may reduce the need for insecticides. Protect natural enemies by avoiding the use of pesticides that kill them and keeping ants out of pest-infested plants.
Insectary plants provide nectar, pollen, and shelter throughout the year for natural enemies. In order to provide a year-round source of food for them, choose plant species and cultivars that flower at different times and are well-adapted to your area. Here are a...