Plants That Attract Beneficial Insects

Out of about a million species of insects, less than 3% are considered pests by humans. Nature is filled with "good bugs", crawling and flying creatures whose diet consists mainly of the pests that ravage garden plants. Here is a list of those good bugs and the plants that they like to visit for food and shelter. Intersperse these plants among the "problem pest areas" in your yard. Remember, though: Many chemical sprays work on both bad and good bugs. To keep the good bugs in your yard, eliminate insecticide use in the areas where they live and work.

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

Ladybug: Also called ladybird beetle. Many species have enormous appetites for aphids, one of the most common plant pests. The immature beetles look like tiny alligators and are often marked with orange or yellow spots. The immature beetles feed on aphids, scale insects, mites, mealy bugs, whiteflies, thrips and the eggs of other insects.

Recognized when they are adults by most gardeners. However, the young larvae, black with orange markings, eat more pests than the adults do, 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

Syrphid (or Hover) Fly: Hover flies are often mistaken for bees or wasps because they have similar yellow and black markings. Hover flies cannot sting. They are pale, greenish brown and eat aphids, leafhoppers, scale insects, mealy bugs, thrips, corn borers or corn earworms. One hover fly maggot will eat 400 aphids.

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 rise 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."

They destroy the eggs of cabbage loopers, cutworms, tomato hornworm, aphids, scale, mealybugs, armyworm, gypsy moth, alfalfa caterpillars and spruce budworm.

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

TACHINID FLIES

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 Pennyroya
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.

GROUND BEETLE

There are hundreds of kinds of ground beetles and most eat other insects. They feed on caterpillars, cutworms, root maggots, spiders, snails, slugs, mites and other beetles.

DRAGONFLY

These are relatively large and colorful, associated with water during every stage of their life. They eat mosquito larvae and adults. They will not bite or sting humans but are predators of small insects including midges, mosquitoes, small moths, bees, butterflies or other dragonflies.

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