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Garden Friends and Foes
Garden Friends - Bugs
These garden bugs eat the problem bugs in a garden. If you see these bugs in your garden, most pest problems can be kept under control.
| Dragonflies: | Small dragonflies catch and eat mosquitoes, midges and small moths. Large dragonflies may capture beneficial bees, butterflies or other dragonflies |
| Hover/Syrphid Fly: | Larvae feed on aphids, mealybugs and other small insects |
| Lacewings: | Eats aphids, whiteflies, thrips and mites |
| Ladybugs: | Eats aphids, mealybugs, scales, psyllids, eggs of the potato beetle and other insects |
 
photo by Jack Clark Photo by Jack Clark
Adult convergent lady beetle Predaceous larva of
feeding on aphids. convergent Lady beetle.
| Fireflies: | Larvae eat snails and slugs |
| Parasitic Wasps: | Eats a variety of caterpillars, beetle larvae, flies, aphids and moths |
| Praying Mantid: | Eats anything that it comes upon, including each other |
| Predatory Mite: | Feeds on two-spotted spider mites in all of its stages, from egg to adult |
| Soldier Beetles: | Larvae prey on cutworms, gypsy moth larvae, slugs and snails |
| Spiders: | Kill anything they capture |
Garden Friends - Plants
Plants that repel or help to control garden pests.
| Basil: | Helps control tomato hornworms |
| Thyme: | Controls flea beetles, cabbage worms and white cabbage butterflies |
Thymus
| Marigold/Mums: | Produces a scent that repels many garden pests. |
| Mint: | Repels mosquitoes. Odor disliked by aphids and cabbage pest |
| Garlic: | Can protect roses from black spot (fungus disease). Grown in rings to repel aphids. |
Garden Pests – Bugs
Bugs you don’t want in your garden. Follow the IPM steps, described on the Pest page and under Less-Toxic Strategy at www.centralsan.org , to ensure that these pests don’t get out of control in the garden.
| Aphids: | Destroys plants by sucking the sap from stems or leaves. Can transmit plant diseases. |
| Garden Slug: | Rasp on leaves, stems, flowers and roots (small seedlings are especially vulnerable). |
Imported
| Cabbageworm: | Frequent pest of cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, kale, kohlrabi, mustard, radish and turnip plants. |
| Scale Insects: | Attack a variety of plants including ornamentals, houseplants and fruits. Secretes honeydew that attracts aphids. |
photo by Jack Kelly Clark
Scale colony
| Spider mites: | Suck the contents of individual plant cells. |
Striped
| Cucumber Beetle: | Eat young seedlings of cucumbers, squash, pumpkins and melons. Adults feed on leaves, vines and fruit. Transmit bacterial wilt disease. |
| Whiteflies: | Attack many garden plants, including tomatoes |
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