Common Garden Insects

Common garden insects can destroy your crops or make your garden better. It depends on the sort of insects you find living in your garden, and knowing how to attract those that are beneficial. 

Harmful Garden Insects

• Aphids are tiny, light green insects that look a bit like tiny beetles. Aphids secrete a substance that spots, wilts and destroys plants. Their nectar is a favorite of ants, who will protect and nurture the aphids. Pesticides can control aphids, but you may also need to get rid of the ants to solve the problem.
• Army Cut Worms are nocturnal worms that hatch in spring and proceed to cut down and eat plants. Most often, you'll find them attacking the stems of vegetable plants. To protect plants, put collars of cardboard, foil or plastic around the base of your plants. During the summer months, cut worms turn to moths and feed on tree sap. They will lay eggs in early fall, among the weeds. If you keep your garden weeded, you can avoid cut worms.
• Cabbage Moths eat growing vegetables, especially cauliflower, broccoli and cabbage. The young appear as green caterpillars with a fuzzy exterior. They turn into white moths that also chew the vegetables, causing damage and holes. Pesticides can eliminate cabbage moths, or you can try planting garlic in your garden, which these insects hate. Putting a piece of plastic or waxed cardboard around the base of growing plants will also keep them away.
• Earwigs are black, long insects with a flat appearance. They have a pincher at their abdomen and eat the roots and leaves of flowers, small bushes and vegetables. They are most active at night in the summer months. Earwigs love damp, dark areas during the day, so there's a good chance you'll find them near your home or infesting the area under a porch or a shed. Spreading boric acid powder around their colony will kill them.
• Greenhouse Whitefly is an insect that sucks the sap from a plant, resulting in wilting and impaired growth. The greenhouse whitefly can be removed by using a special insecticidal soap found in garden specialty stores.

Helpful Garden Insects

• Lacewings at the larval stage eat insects that are pests in the garden. You want the insects to lay eggs in your garden, so you need to supply food for the adults. This food is pollen and nectar from early-blooming flowers, such as Basket of Gold, English Lavender and Goldenrod.
• Pirate Bugs eat spider mites and the eggs of harmful garden insects. The larvae and adult bugs each eat these, so they are excellent natural pest control for a garden. They like to live near mint, yarrow, thyme, and columbine.
• Ladybugs are beneficial to the garden because they eat aphids. Ladybug eggs are tiny and green. Adult ladybugs are commonly red and black, though you'll also see orange and black and white and black. Ladybugs can be bought at garden centers. Once they're established in the yard, they should keep controlling pests for years to come.