Ladybugs

[hoodat]

Love those predatory wasps. If you want to encourage them be sure to have some plants with small flowers so they can gather nectar and pollen in their adult stage. A few carrots left to go to seed are great for that, The tiny wasps love them. They also like cilantro flowers and dandelion.
Predatory wasps are the best control I have for those gray colored aphids that can infest anything in the mustard or cabbage family. I'm always sure to let at least one cauliflower or broccoli go to flower for them. That also gives me some of that seed for next Fall.

 

[baymule]

Red wasps eat tomato horn worms too

 

[hoodat]

Yellowjackets also eat cabbage worms. High protein for the young'uns. Digger wasps eat army and cutworms. They all have a place in our gardens.

 

[TReeves]

In the year we've been here I don't think I've seen any if those things. We have beetles,scorpions,white moths and regular ones,butterflies. They may exist but, not in my yard. Aphids have been a problem this year.

 

[Nyboy]

Yellowjackets also eat cabbage worms. High protein for the young'uns. Digger wasps eat army and cutworms. They all have a place in our gardens.

I guess yellowjacks are good for something

 

[so lucky]

In the year we've been here I don't think I've seen any if those things. We have beetles,scorpions,white moths and regular ones,butterflies. They may exist but, not in my yard. Aphids have been a problem this year.

@TReeves, could you do me a favor and put your general location in your avatar/information section? That way when you post about something going on in your garden, we will know what climate and zone you are dealing with.

 

[thistlebloom]

We had baldfaced hornets last year and the year before that I had never noticed before. I told a friend of mine and her husband said, "oh those are really aggressive, you should try to get rid of them", so that made me a little nervous. But as the summer went on I never noticed any aggression from them at all, nothing like the paper wasps who get real ornery when you swat at them. In fact I noticed them facing the coop walls and the horse shed buzzing around like they had lost something. I was told that they were hunting flies, and it must have been so, because we had hardly any flies, even though the coop and corrals are only about 80 feet or so from the house. I hope they are around this year too.

 

[hoodat]

Those tiny predator wasps are easy to miss. They are about the size of a gnat and can easily be mistaken for them. The tip off is the antenas on the wasps. Gnats do not have long antenas.

 

[ducks4you]

As I understand it the native ladybug isn't a problem, and the Asian ladybug is becoming a non problem, too, since predators have developed an appetite for them. I don't think I want to kill them. They aren't a huge nuisance and they DO eat some pests.
But, if it's native, I would love more ladybugs in my gardens.

 

[hoodat]

Just a caution. Don't pick up those big Asian lady bugs. They bite.