Good Bugs

More San Diegans are taking advantage of growing their own produce. Adding beneficial bugs to your garden, such as those listed below, will increase the likelihood for strong fruit and vegetable growth. Many of them are highly effective in pest control, eliminating the need to use harmful pesticides.

Ladybugs
Ladybugs are predatory insects, and their main source of food is aphids. Aphids can stunt plant growth, turn leaves brown and even kill plants. Ladybugs are capable of eating more than 5,000 aphids in their lifetime. 

Praying Mantises
These bugs are fascinating to watch, with their very slow moving, 3-inch-long bodies and prominent eyes. They feed on anything they can catch. 

Red Worms
The intricate digestive tracts of red worms produce nutritious fertilizer known as worm castings. The tunnels they create in soil also help aerate plant roots.

Decollate Snails
These carnivores feed on their cousins, the brown garden snail. Once they rid your garden of brown snails, they feed on leaf litter and other organic material, helping the composting process.

Green Lacewings
Like ladybugs, green lacewings are aphid exterminators. They also feed on mealybugs, scale spider mites, thrips, whiteflies, small caterpillars, insect eggs and larvae.

Sean Sturgeon, Regional Manager
Armstrong Garden Centers 
armstronggarden.com