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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Let Nature Do Your Bug Controlling

Phyllis Stephens Staff writer

This week in our series of tributes to Earth Day we’ll discuss an organic approach to controlling bugs in the garden. Note the operative word is control. We are not discussing eradication.

Before we even think of attacking these tiny critters, we need to be able to distinguish the good guys from the bad guys. Not all insects spend their lives dining on our gardens. Some feed on other insects or pollinate crops or aerate and enrich the soil. And, if we’re interested in attracting birds and butterflies to our gardens, well, most birds love bugs for dinner and butterflies come from caterpillars.

Let’s begin with the good guys:

Aphid lion or lace wing: Lace wings can usually be spotted at night, congregating around the porch lamp. They are the pale green beauties with light green transparent wings. They feed on honeydew secreted from white fly, aphids and scale and on flower nectar. It’s their larvae (tiny, slender white insects referred to as aphid lion) that eat their way through enemy camps.

Ladybugs (Ladybird beetles): Most of us are familiar with the adult ladybug, but can we recognize her larvae? They are about 1/4-inch long with six legs (three on each side) near the head. Like their mom, they, too, are quite attractive - orange and blue stripes running in circles around the body. These predators eat aphid, scale, mites, leafhoppers and many other insects.

Since the adults and their offspring feed on all kinds of insects, attracting them to the garden and keeping them there can be very profitable. Lure these critters into the yard with roses, yarrow, marigolds, butterfly weed or goldenrod.

Ground beetles: Since these fellows are night feeders, we usually don’t run into them unless we happen to turn them over in the soil. The adults are usually large and dull black. On the other hand, the one-inch-long larvae are thin and a sleek, shiny black. Both the adult and the larvae feast at night on caterpillars, cutworms, slugs, cankerworms and grasshopper eggs.

If you happen to unearth an adult, let it go on its way. And if you find one on its back with its legs going a mile a minute, flip it over.

Predatory mites: That’s right. Not all mites are bad guys. Predatory mites resemble other spider mites, except they are orange and lack spots. (Of course, knowing their color or if they have spots requires getting acquainted close up, face-to-face.) Other identifying traits are a pear-shaped body and long front legs. They eat other mites. Sevin insecticide is deadly to predator mites.

Praying mantis: Many insects, especially ants, savor a meal of immature mantis. But a mantis that makes it to adulthood gets its revenge. This gentle creature devours everybody - bad guys and good guys. A possible exception would be ladybugs, because they’re supposed to be bitter. (I wonder how we come to learn such information.)

Spiders: All are beneficial (eating other insects) and most are harmless. Some exceptions are the black widow, the aggressive house spider and the brown recluse (rarely found living in our area).

Wasps: Most all wasps are beneficial. Some break down rotting plant debris while others feed on insects. Mud dobbers eat black widows. The tiny tichogramma wasp lays its eggs on cabbage worms, tent caterpillars, codling moths, cutworms, cankerworms, tomato hornworms and corn earworms. The eggs hatch and destroy the pest.

These are the good guys. Along with birds, these fellows help keep harmful insect populations under control. If chemical insecticides are constantly used or the timing of the spray is wrong, the numbers of beneficial insects and birds in our gardens can be greatly reduced.

Next week, we will look at the other guys and good organic controls.

Special events:

The Associated Garden Clubs will hold their annual plant sale Saturday and Sunday at the Manito Park Garden Center from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

There will be hundreds of perennials, shrubs, ferns and houseplants, a children’s table of plants, and more than 300 named lilacs.

Also on Saturday, Finch Arboretum will be celebrating Arbor Day and you’re invited. Plan for a day of family fun and demonstrations, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

, DataTimes