LACEWINGS (Chrysopa spp.)

Beautiful little green or brown insects with large lacy wings. Individual white eggs are found laid on the ends of inch-long stiff threads. It is the larvae (which look like little alligators) that destroy most of the pests. They are sometimes called aphid lions for their habit of dining on aphids. They also feed on mites, other small insects and insect eggs.

The lacewing, which is also attracted to well-lit windows and screens on spring and summer evenings. 

Plants that attract lacewings:

Achillea filipendulina Fern-leaf yarrow Anethum graveolens Dill Angelica gigas Angelica Anthemis tinctoria Golden marguerite Atriplex canescens Four-wing saltbush Callirhoe involucrata Purple poppy mallow Carum Carvi Caraway	Coriandrum sativum Coriander Cosmos bipinnatus Cosmos white sensation Daucus Carota Queen Anne's lace Foeniculum vulgare Fennel Helianthus maximilianii Prairie sunflower Tanacetum vulgare Tansy Taraxacum officinale Dandelion

LADYBUGS

Recognized when they are adults by most gardeners. However, the young larvae, black with orange markings, eat more pests than the adults, and they can't fly. Yellowish eggs are laid in clusters usually on the undersides of leaves.

Plants that attract ladybugs:

Achillea filipendulina Fern-leaf yarrow Achillea millefolium Common yarrow Ajuga reptans Carpet bugleweed Alyssum saxatilis Basket of Gold Anethum graveolens Dill Anthemis tinctoria Golden marguerite Asclepias tuberosa Butterfly weed Atriplex canescens Four-wing saltbush Coriandrum sativum Coriander Daucus Carota Queen Anne's lace Fagopyrum esculentum Buckwheat

Foeniculum vulgare Fennel Helianthus maximilianii Prairie sunflower Penstemon strictus Rocky Mt. penstemon Potentilla recta 'warrenii' Sulfur cinquefoil Potentilla villosa Alpine cinquefoil Tagetes tenuifolia Marigold - lemon gem Tanacetum vulgare Tansy Taraxacum officinale Dandelion Veronica spicata Spike speedwell Vicia villosa Hairy vetch

HOVERFLIES

Also known as syrphid fly, hover fly or flower fly. Adults look like little bees that hover over and dart quickly away. They don't sting! They lay eggs (white, oval, laid singly or in groups on leaves) which hatch into green, yellow, brown, orange, or white half-inch maggots that look like caterpillars. They raise up on their hind legs to catch and feed on aphids, mealybugs and others.

Plants that attract hoverflies:

Achillea filipendulina Fern-leaf yarrow Achillea millefolium Common yarrow Ajuga reptans Carpet bugleweed Allium tanguticum Lavender globe lily Alyssum saxatilis Basket of Gold Anethum graveolens Dill Anthemis tinctoria Golden marguerite Aster alpinus Dwarf alpine aster Astrantia major Masterwort Atriplex canescens Four-wing saltbush Callirhoe involucrata Purple poppy mallow Carum Carvi Caraway Chrysanthemum parthenium Feverfew Coriandrum sativum Coriander Cosmos bipinnatus Cosmos white sensation Daucus Carota Queen Anne's lace Fagopyrum esculentum Buckwheat Foeniculum vulgare Fennel Lavandula angustifolia English lavender Limnanthes douglasii Poached egg plant Limonium latifolium Statice

Linaria vulgaris Butter and eggs Lobelia erinus Edging lobelia Lobularia maritima Sweet alyssum - white Melissa officinalis Lemon balm Mentha pulegium Pennyroyal Mentha spicata Spearmint Monarda fistulosa Wild bergamot Penstemon strictus Rocky Mt. penstemon Petroselinum crispum Parsley Potentilla recta 'warrenii' Sulfur cinquefoil Potentilla villosa Alpine cinquefoil Rudbeckia fulgida Gloriosa daisy Sedum kamtschaticum Orange stonecrop Sedum spurium & album Stonecrops Solidago virgaurea Peter Pan goldenrod Stachys officinalis Wood betony Tagetes tenuifolia Marigold - lemon gem Thymus serpylum coccineus Crimson thyme Veronica spicata Spike speedwell Zinnia elegans Zinnia - liliput

PARASITIC MINI-WASPS

Parasites of a variety of insects. They do not sting! The stingers have been adapted to allow the females to lay their eggs in the bodies of insect pests. The eggs then hatch, and the young feed on the pests from the inside, killing them. After they have killed the pests, they leave hollow "mummies."

Braconid wasps feed on moth, beetle and fly larvae, moth eggs, various insect pupae and adults. If you see lots of white capsules on the backs of a caterpillar, these are the braconid cocoons--leave the dying caterpillar alone!

Ichneumonid wasps control moth, butterfly, beetle and fly larvae and pupae. Trichogramma wasps lay their eggs in the eggs of moths (hungry caterpillars-to-be), killing them and turning them black.

The black dot in the middle of the picture is an emerging encarsia wasp, which is hatching out of an immature stage of a (now dead) whitefly. The wasp lays its eggs onto young whiteflies.

Plants that attract parasitic mini-wasps:

Achillea filipendulina Fern-leaf yarrow Achillea millefolium Common yarrow Allium tanguticum Lavender globe lily Anethum graveolens Dill Anthemis tinctoria Golden marguerite Astrantia major Masterwort Callirhoe involucrata Purple poppy mallow Carum Carvi Caraway Coriandrum sativum Coriander Cosmos bipinnatus Cosmos white sensation Daucus Carota Queen Anne's lace Foeniculum vulgare Fennel Limonium latifolium Statice

Linaria vulgaris Butter and eggs Lobelia erinus Edging lobelia Lobularia maritima Sweet alyssum - white Melissa officinalis Lemon balm Mentha pulegium Pennyroyal Petroselinum crispum Parsley Potentilla recta 'warrenii' Sulfur cinquefoil Potentilla villosa Alpine cinquefoil Sedum kamtschaticum Orange stonecrop Tagetes tenuifolia Marigold - lemon gem Tanacetum vulgare Tansy Thymus serpylum coccineus Crimson thyme Zinnia elegans Zinnia - liliput

Parasites of caterpillars (corn earworm, imported cabbage worm, cabbage looper, cutworms, armyworms), stink bug, squash bug nymphs, beetle and fly larvae, some true bugs, and beetles. Adults are 1/3 to 1/2 inch long. White eggs are deposited on foliage or on the body of the host (in the picture below, the tachinid fly is approaching the larvae of an elm leaf beetle). Larvae are internal parasites, feeding within the body of the host, sucking its body fluids to the point the pest dies.

Plants that attract tachinid flies:

Anthemis tinctoria Golden marguerite Fagopyrum esculentum Buckwheat Melissa officinalis Lemon balm Mentha pulegium Pennyroyal

Petroselinum crispum Parsley Phacelia tanacetifolia Phacelia Tanacetum vulgare Tansy Thymus serpyllum coccineus Crimson thyme

MINUTE PIRATE BUGS (Orius spp.)

Tiny (1/20 inch long) bugs that feed on almost any small insect or mite, including thrips, aphids, mites, scales, whiteflies and soft-bodied arthropods, but are particularly attracted to thrips in spring.

DAMSEL BUGS (Nabis spp.)

Feed on aphids, leafhoppers, plant bugs, and even small caterpillars as adults and nymphs (teenagers). They are usually dull brown and resemble other plant bugs that are pests. Their heads are usually longer and narrower then most plant feeding species (the better to eat with).

BIG EYED BUGS (Geocoris spp.)

Small (1/4 inch long), grayish-beige, oval shaped) bugs with large eyes that feed on many small insects (e.g., leaf hoppers, spider mites), insect eggs, and mites, as both nymphs and adults. Eggs are football shaped, whitish-gray with red spots.

Plants that attract minute pirate bugs, damsel bugs and big eyed bugs:

Carum Carvi Caraway Cosmos bipinnatus Cosmos - white sensation Foeniculum vulgare Fennel Medicago sativa Alfalfa

Mentha spicata Spearmint Solidago virgaurea Peter Pan goldenrod Tagetes tenuifolia Marigold - lemon gem