A Guide to Beneficial Insects for Your Gardens

Bugs love gardens, that's a fact. Trying to fight the bugs that are destroying your garden can be difficult since the chemicals used to destroy bugs can often harm the plants as well. There are good bugs, though, that can actually be purchased and placed in your garden to keep other insects from destroying your yield. Imagine: purchasing bugs through the mail - yuck! But, if you want the healthiest garden possible, you might consider doing just that.

One such bug is the Green Lacewing. There are many different species and most of them look a lot alike. The adults aren't really the predators, though. It's the larvae that love to gorge on aphids, spider mites, whiteflies, moths, caterpillars, beetle larvae, and other pests. Their favorite places to set up homestead are cotton, corn, potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, greens, apples and strawberries.

The Green Lacewing will not damage your flowers, fruits or veggies but they will get rid of pests that try. Once you've put a few in your garden your worries will be over because the Lacewing will continue to reproduce and guard your garden. The adults aren't too scary-looking. They are usually green or yellow in color, with large antennae and golden eyes. Their wings are lacy-looking and the bug is less than an inch in length. You need approximately 1 bug for each square foot of garden. The bugs are usually sold by the thousand for around $10-$15.