Beneficial Insects M-P—From Marsh Fly to Predatory Soil Mite
This page is the third page of four in the long list of beneficial insects found in gardens, lawns and fields. Beneficial Insects A-C | Beneficial Insects D-L | Beneficial Insects R-Z
Beneficial Insects M-P Marsh Fly
- These flies are bugs that are slender, yellow brown in color with red eyes
- Have long antennae and spotted wings
- They are pollinators and prey on small snails
Mason Bee
- They are active pollinators between apple blossom and cherry blossom season
- Mason bees resemble house flies more than honey bees and are smaller
- These beneficial bugs are a dark blue black with no stripes
Mealybug Destroyer
- As the name implies loves mealybugs, both adult and larvae
- They will lay their eggs in a mealybug egg mass letting the new larvae feed on immature mealybugs
Minute Pirate Bug
- Feeds mainly on spider mites, caterpillars, thrips and other insects and their eggs
- Adults are about 1/4 inch long
- Bodies are silver and black with the tips of their wings are black resembling a pirate flag, hence the name
- These beneficial bugs are excellent hunters and will kill more than they can eat
Mud Dauber
- Mud dauber has other names like dirt dauber, dirt dobber, dirt diver or mud wasp.
- These beneficial bugs are the main predator of the black and brown widow spiders.
- The muddy nests of mud-daubers are a periodic nuisance to some homeowners, but the wasps are not assertive or hazardous.
- A kind of parasitic wasps attack mud-dauber nests, they steal provisions and offspring as food for their young.
The most common species are:- solid black organ pipe mud dauber
- black and yellow mud dauber
- irridescent blue mud dauber
Parasitic Wasp
- These wasps are so small that you will not even notice them, less than 1/8 inch
- 1600 species in North America
- The many different species will eat aphids, whiteflies, butterflies or moths, leafminers, scales, cabbage loopers and horworms
Phorid Fly (top part of the image)
- They decapitate fire ants
- They are very small, the image above has the fly enlarged.
- They are from South America and are under research here in the USA.
- May be helpful against leafcutter ants also.
Praying Mantis
- Praying Mantises will eat insects and other invertebrates such as other praying mantises, grasshoppers, crickets, spiders, butterflies, and beetles
- Also eat vertebrates such as lizards, mice, tree frogs, hummingbirds>/li>
- Know by Praying Mantis, Praying Mantids or Praying Mantises
- At least 2,000 species of Praying Mantis and are carnivorous insects
- Camouflage is very important to these insects. Most are pea green or brown but may be light green to pink
- Only insect that can turn it's head 180 degrees side to side
- The female will lay anywhere from 12 to 400 eggs usually in the fall of the year
Predatory Mite
- Adults are about 1/2 millimeter in length
- Are beige to reddish tan in color
- They can consume up 5 to 10 spider mites and citrus mites or 20 eggs a day
Predatory Soil Mite
- Feeds on soil living insects, mites, fungus gnat and all stages of springtails
- They are very small- 1/20 inch
Nosema and nematodes aren't insects, but they all do battle against pests in your garden. Nosema Locustae
- A single-celled protozoan that kills over 90 species of grasshoppers, locusts, and some species of crickets
- Not harmful to humans, livestock, and pets
- Capable of reproducing through infestation of grasshoppers. Should cycle itself if pests are present
Beneficial Nematode
- A small organism that attacks at least 21 different insects, depending on the nematode species used
- Not harmful to humans, livestock, and pets
- Needs moist, warm soil
Beneficial Insects A-C | Beneficial Insects D-L | Beneficial Insects R-Z From Beneficial Insects M-P to Beneficial Insects
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