Tag: natural enemies

Underrated Beneficial Arthropods Part 2: Natural Enemies

Continuing with the theme of Underrated Beneficial Arthropods that I brought up in my December post about Underrated Pollinators– I will be focusing on the next category of what I consider the trio of beneficial arthropods (which includes pollinators, natural enemies, and nutrient cyclers).

Natural Enemies

Natural enemies are comprised of predatory and parasitic arthropods, in which one or more life stages of the arthropod feed on other organisms, such as garden pests, thereby killing them.… Continue reading this article “Underrated Beneficial Arthropods Part 2: Natural Enemies”

Buying lady beetles and mantids for your home gardens is probably not the best pest control strategy

Biological control is the use of natural enemies such as predators, parasites/parasitoids, and pathogens of pests in order to suppress or control them. This is a great tool for pest control and we hear about biological control a lot, especially when we talk about IPM (Integrated Pest Management). It usually comes with the classic imagery of a hungry lady beetle (often incorrectly referred to as the lady ”bug”) munching on aphids.

Cartoon of lady beetles munching on aphids by Sara Zimmerman (unearthedcomics.com)
… Continue reading this article “Buying lady beetles and mantids for your home gardens is probably not the best pest control strategy”