Posts Tagged: soldier beetles
'Garden Allies': Everything in Your Garden Has a Place
Don't ask if the insects you find in your garden are "good bugs or bad bugs." Everything in your garden has a place, and your place should be a healthy, thriving garden--free of pesticides,...
A lady beetle and her eggs in a Vacaville garden. Everything in nature is connected, says Frédérique Lavoipierre. If you have no aphids, no lady beetles or soldier beetles for you. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A soldier beetle (family Cantharida) feasts on aphids but is often mistaken as a "bad bug." This image was taken in a Vacaville garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The Red Coats Are Coming
The Red Coats are coming. The Red Coats are coming. No, not an army of soldiers. Soldier beetles. These insects (family Cantharida) resemble the uniforms of the British soldiers of the American Revolution, which is apparently how their name originated....
A soldier beetle (family Cantharida) looks out over a milkweed in search of more aphids. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The Love Bugs
"You can never be too rich, too young, too blonde or too thin," a quote often attributed to Wallis Simpson, Duchess of Windsor.Well, you can never have too many ladybugs, aka lady beetles, in your garden.These colorful beetles devour aphids and other...
Ladybugs and soldier beetles--along with aphids--on a plum tree. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Fast-moving soldier beetle crawls toward a pair of ladybugs on a plum tree. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Ladybug eggs mean more ladybugs. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The Leather Wings
Some call them "soldier beetles."Some call them "leather-winged beetles."Some call them "Cantharids" (family Cantharidae).Whatever you call them, be sure to welcome them to your garden. They eat aphids, lots of aphids. Like the good soldiers they are,...
Soldier Beetle
Ready for Flight
Look Ma, No Aphids!
Got aphids? The important work that soldier beetles (family Cantharidae) do is never more exemplified than in the "before" and "after" photos. When the aphids landed on our rose bushes, a few ladybugs came to dine, but the...
Before
After
Lone soldier beetle