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Insects

    Lacking the grace of a butterfly, the agility of a praying mantis or the industriousness of a bee, ground beetles are not included in the current list of trendy bugs. In fact, many people have no idea what they are losing when they deliberately squash one of these beneficial insects as it scurries …

A truly Jekyll and Hyde insect, the Green Lacewing is both a fierce predator as a larvae and a delicate beauty as an adult.   Adult green lacewings are slender insects with lacy-looking, transparent wings and round, golden-colored eyes. During the day, green lacewings are usually found resting in open spaces  around grassy or weedy …

    Some say that finding  this insect in your home means that angels are watching over you, while others say that if one looks at you with a menacing glare, it foretells your death. The French thought it would lead a lost child home again. Folklore aside, the praying mantis is a fascinating visitor …

Fast moving, noisy, yellow and black bumblebees are part of our native insect population. Here in North America there are currently 46 species of bumblebees, while worldwide there are 250 species. Because of habitat fragmentation and loss, pesticide use and diseases, the number of bumblebees is declining.     Although they are large and look …

    Those of us who are “of an age” have fond memories of quietly witnessing, or perhaps breathlessly chasing, the glow of hundreds of fireflies as they flitted across the grass on a summer’s evening. It was pure magic. Unfortunately, because of habitat destruction, overuse of pesticides and light pollution, this magic is disappearing …

    Neither an insect nor a “true bug,” this fierce-looking arachnid is a common visitor to the garden. Black and yellow garden spiders (also known as  Corn Spiders or Zipper Spiders) and their impressive orb webs (up to two feet in diameter), are typically found in sheltered, sunny places near houses and in gardens …

  An insatiable predator, the familiar lady bug is one of the gardeners best friends. In it’s relatively short lifetime, a single lady bug can devour up to 5,000 aphids. Throughout their life cycles the over 400 species of lady bugs here in the United States also voraciously consume whiteflies, scale insects and mealybugs. Lady …

Whether you are planting to attract butterflies, bees or a host of other native pollinators, finding out which specific plants are the best to include can be complicated. In order to help you design your pollinator garden, I have pulled together a list of some beneficial insects and their related plants. Look for “INVITE AN …