Attracting Beneficial Bugs to Your Garden, Revised and Updated Second Edition: A Natural Approach to Pest Control by Jessica Walliser

This revised and updated edition of Jessica Walliser’s award-winning Attracting Beneficial Bugs to Your Garden offers a valuable and science-backed plan for bringing balance back to the garden. With this indispensable gardening reference—now updated with new research, insights, and voices—learn how to create a healthy, balanced, and diverse garden capable of supporting a hard-working crew of beneficial pest-eating insects and eliminate the need for synthetic chemical pesticides. After a fascinating introduction to the predator and prey cycle and its importance to both wild ecosystems and home gardens, you’ll meet dozens of pest-munching beneficial insects (the predators) that feast on garden pests (their prey). From ladybugs and lacewings to parasitic wasps and syrphid flies, these good guys of the bug world keep the natural system of checks and balances in prime working order. They help limit pest damage and also serve a valuable role in the garden's food web. But, they won't call your garden home if you don't have the resources they need to survive. With a hearty population of beneficial insects present in your garden, you’ll say goodbye to common garden pests like aphids, cabbage worms, bean beetles, leafhoppers, and hornworms, without reaching for a spray can. To encourage these good guys to stick around and do their important work, you'll learn how to create a welcoming habitat and fill your garden with the best plants Read more

From the Publisher SYRPHID FLIES With nearly nine hundred different species in North America, syrphid flies are a diverse crew. Adult flies measure anywhere from 0.16 to 1 inch (4–25 mm) and bear assorted markings of black, yellow, white, and brown. ASIAN LADYBUG Introduced multicolored Asian ladybugs are known to outcompete many native ladybug species. They are large and very round, and have a huge range of coloration and spot patterns. FRITILLARY BUTTERFLY Insects have evolved mouthparts perfectly suited to their consumptive habits. This fritillary butterfly uses its strawlike proboscis to drink nectar from flowers. YELLOW CONEFLOWER The yellow coneflower (Ratibida pinnata) is a native perennial that prefers lean soils and requires very little care. It provides habitat and food for a variety of beneficial bugs.