Garden Insect Friends
Gardens are great attractions to insects. Some are pests, but others are our garden's friends. Think of them as free and environmentally safe pest control and important pollinators. Learn the face and shape of these wiggling and flying friends--in larvae and adult stages-- commonly found in Central Washington gardens. Take care when applying pesticides that might remove a pest, and just as assuredly sacrifice insects beneficial to our plants.
Learn about what to plant to attract the adults, whose voracious off-spring hatch in our yards and munch on our garden pests.
- Green Lacewings- Lacewings in their larvae stage are great hunters of aphids. View photos of their life stages, particularly the larvae. Read more about them.
- Lady Beetles- also known as lady bugs, these slow flyers are our friends because they are enemies of aphids, scales, adelgids, insect eggs, spider mites, and small caterpillars. Read more about them.
- Syrphid or Hover Flies- Though the adults prefer pollen nectar and honeydew, the larvae go out for dinner on aphids found primarly on apple and stone fruit. See photos and read more about them and also in orchards, and what attracts them.
- Assassin Bugs- See photos and read more about them
- Tachinid Flies- This large family of flies can be can be very important natural enemies of leafrollers, cutworms and other pests. Read more about them and see photos.
- Snakeflies- Both the larvae and adults of this Lacewing relative are garden friends. Larvae feed on wood-boring insects, small insects such as aphids and caterpillars, and various insect eggs. The adults feed on aphids or other small, weak prey.Read more about them and see photos
- Other beneficials- See photos and read about them, and also this west Washington site that shares details on similar insect friends.