Gardener's Best Friends: Beneficial Bugs

As an adult, the green lacewing feeds mostly on pollen and nectar, but in its larval stage, it's an aphid's worst enemy. Plus, lacewing larvae prey on other small, soft-bodied insects such as thrips, spider mites and mealybugs. (Photo, courtesy of Drees, Texas A & M University)

The gardener has thousands of best friends out in the garden--they're the insects that need bad bugs in order to survive. Whether they parasitize their enemies or simply eat them by the hundreds, these bugs are "good" because they help keep some common garden pests under control.

Usually it's the larvae of any given good-bug species that does most of the work of eating pests, which means that you want to keep these good bugs living in your garden and making new generations. What can you do to encourage more good bugs in your garden? You and your kids will love this interactive garden of good bugs.

For more information on how to identify the good bugs from the bad bugs, including helpful websites with great bug photos, see Identifying Bugs.

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