The fight against pests in the garden or in the garden is becoming more and more fierce and fierce every year, the old means of extermination cease to work, you have to try new ones, sometimes ineffective, or very expensive. And it should be borne in mind that everyone is under the impact of processing, not only pests, but also beneficial insects. Unfortunately, the former multiply and restore their numbers much faster than the latter.

Biological methods of pest control in gardens and orchards have long been known not only to scientists, but also to gardeners and gardeners. These methods allow you to balance the pest population with the help of their natural predators.

Of course, there are no absolutely useful or harmful animals, insects and birds, but the dominance of pests brings undeniable harm. It is possible to make garden plantings healthy and high-yielding without resorting to the help of modern poisons, which can accumulate in fruits and significantly reduce their quality characteristics.

To do this, it is enough to protect and attract beneficial insects, birds and animals to home gardens. Their optimal amount can significantly reduce the need for the use of protective preparations and concentrate on the use of non-toxic preparations that increase the overall resistance of green spaces to adverse environmental conditions and various diseases.

In pest control will help:

Birds in the garden

Birds, from the Latin Aves, are able to make any garden "alive". Caterpillars, butterflies, beetles and larvae serve as food for feathered insectivores.

A special period of activity for the destruction of garden pests occurs during the season of feeding their offspring.

It is known that only two titmice are enough to protect 35-40 fruit trees from pests.

Some types of birds are most useful in pest control:

• starling;
• tit;
• woodpecker;
• martin;
• wagtail;
• flycatcher;
• redstart;
• rook.

The benefits of birds in the garden are undeniable. One rook eats almost 500 wireworm larvae per day, and the titmouse destroys about 100 thousand pests during the summer period. The starling, when feeding its chicks, transfers about 8 thousand larvae and adults of the May beetle to its nest.

How to attract birds to the garden

Most of the feathered defenders die in a harsh and frosty winter, not only from the cold, but also from lack of food.

Equipping the garden with various feeders and planting mountain ash contribute to the preservation of the population of wintering individuals. The greatest effect is achieved when placing titmouse and birdhouses on the territory of the garden.

When living in a country house all year round, do not forget to fill the feeders in winter, either with bird food, or with grain and berries, you can hang out a piece of lard for titmouse, they love it very much.

Useful amphibians

The largest detachment of amphibians, or Anura, has long been a habitual inhabitant of gardens and orchards. Frogs and toads usually cause a feeling of disgust and disgust. Meanwhile, they invisibly help our plantations, freeing them from the dominance of numerous pests.

Experienced gardeners know that the vision of frogs and toads allows them to react only to moving objects, so numerous harmful insects and slugs become their prey. The benefits of frogs in gardening are very great. For a day, one individual destroys about 2 grams of flying and crawling pests.

They eat even those insects that insectivorous birds "disdain". And the ability to hunt in the dark makes them simply indispensable in the fight against scoop butterflies, moths, caterpillars and slugs. The appearance of frogs and toads on the site is an excellent biological indicator of plant health.

How to attract frogs to the garden

In order to attract amphibious defenders to help the garden and the garden, it is necessary to place containers with water in shaded areas or arrange a small pond with gentle banks.

As a small artificial "reservoir" you can use an old basin, trough or bath. They must be provided with small boards that will help frogs and toads to easily get out of the water.

Beneficial insects

The word "insect" is translated as "animal with notches" and is mentioned in 1731 dictionaries.

Many gardeners regularly face the problem of low yields and the death of young seedlings and already fruiting trees. In most cases, this is the result of various garden pests.

Many insects that live in our gardens are natural enemies of pests. The impact of predatory insects, or entomophages, can reduce the number of major garden pests by almost 40%.

According to biologists, modern gardeners practically do not take into account the fact that the use of beneficial insects helps to get rid of aphids, caterpillars, snails and other pests much more effectively than the use of expensive pesticides.

Arachnids (Araneae)

Some species weave webs, some live in earthen burrows, and there are species that hide on the back of leaves. All of them feed on various harmful insects and eat caterpillars, wood lice, fleas and cabbage butterflies.

lacewing

An adult insect resembles a moth with delicate transparent wings, folded in a house, and shiny golden-green eyes, its larva is not inferior in its predatory habits to a ladybug larva.

The female lays about 20 greenish eggs individually or in groups on the bark or leaves. The larvae hatched from eggs develop within 2-3 weeks depending on weather conditions. Their length is only 7 mm, the jaws are long, sickle-shaped and pointed. Huge - for its size, with curved jaws, it grabs aphids and sucks them out, leaving only an empty skin.

For its habits, the lacewing used to be proudly called the "smoldering lion". The larvae of this insect are very aggressive predators and exterminate aphids, mites and other small pests in large quantities. The grown larva, like a fur coat, is covered with a layer of empty skins, which it carries on itself for protection from the sun and for better camouflage. Individual individuals are capable of destroying up to 500 aphids during development.

After 18 days, the larvae hide in a protected place, wrap themselves around and turn into a white round cocoon. After the lacewing emerges from the cocoon, the next generation begins. In total, 2 generations can appear in a year. Adults feed, as a rule, on honeydew and pollen, on occasion they do not disdain small insects. The adult lacewing hibernates in secluded corners, so sometimes it can be found in residential areas. During the wintering period, the insect may acquire a yellow or brown color, but in the spring it turns green again.

The use of lacewing for targeted biological plant protection in greenhouses and protected ground has been tested with good results. To do this, it is necessary to place 20 lacewing eggs for each square meter of surface, which can be purchased at special biological laboratories.

Settlement in the garden: prefer areas rich in flowering plants. Green-eyes need shelter for the winter in the form of small wooden houses stuffed with straw.

Ladybug

Not everyone knows that creatures harmless to humans are voracious predators, zealously exterminating smaller animals, mainly aphids. The appetite of the larvae is especially great. The ladybug larva is not a very pleasant creature without wings, with bright spots on a dark back. But when you see such a "worm" on a leaf, resist the temptation to destroy it.

In many countries, ladybugs are bred specifically for sale to gardeners. Several dozen bugs are capable of causing serious havoc in the ranks of aphids. An adult ladybug destroys hundreds of aphids, mealybugs, mites and thrips during its lifetime.

Adult ladybugs hibernate outdoors, such as under foliage or dry grass. In spring, ladybugs lay 10-20 eggs vertically in a group on branches or on the inside of a leaf close to aphid colonies. The larvae from the eggs go through 4 stages.

Settlement in the garden: when using a ladybug as a plant protection, its development cycles should be taken into account. For wintering, provide an insect with a shelter (foliage, stones, bark, etc.).

Hoverflies are of great importance in horticulture because their larvae feed on aphids. Larvae develop in different conditions - in soil, slurry or on plants. Visually, the hoverfly looks like a wasp, the length of an adult is 8-15 mm. The peculiarity of hoverflies, reflected in their name, is that in flight they can, as it were, hover in place, while making a sound that vaguely resembles the murmur of water.

Egg laying occurs in aphid colonies. Eggs 1 mm long, white. The larvae hatched from the eggs do not have legs and move like snails. They are white or yellow in color and look like fly larvae.

To hunt for aphids, hoverflies use their hook-shaped jaws, with which they firmly hold prey, sucking it out. The development of the larva to the pupal stage lasts 2 weeks. During this time, the larva eats up to 700 aphids. Hoverfly larvae are active mainly at night and do not go hunting until dusk. The hoverfly survives the pupal stage in a shell in the form of a droplet, located near the aphid colony on leaves or on the ground. Some species breed several generations, most - up to 5 per year. In some species, females hibernate in the same way as larvae or pupae. The hoverflies themselves feed on flower and honeydew, as well as aphid secretions.

Settlement in the garden: areas with flowering plants are most suitable for hoverflies, but not well-groomed lawns. Plants that bloom with yellow flowers are especially fond of hoverflies. For overwintering hoverflies, you can leave small wooden boxes filled with dry grass or shavings.

Riders

In appearance, the riders resemble wasps and in most cases have a dark or variegated color. Their size varies and ranges from less than 1 mm to more than 10 mm. The rider lays eggs on the insect, its larva, caterpillar or in their bodies with the help of a special sting that pierces the body of the victim with lightning speed. The larva of the corresponding species of rider hatches from the egg and sucks out the “owner”.

Ichneumonid riders, true riders (Ichneumonidae)

One of the largest representatives of ichneumonids or true riders is the Ephialtes emperor (Dolichomitus imperator). It is found both in Europe and here, in the European part of Russia.

It is easy enough to recognize by its black coloration, strongly elongated abdomen and red or dark red legs. The body length of the "emperor" can reach 3 centimeters, and the length of the ovipositor sometimes reaches 4 centimeters, otherwise nothing. After all, its main “specialization” concerns the larvae of tree pests, who like to burrow deeper into the wood and think that they are completely safe here, but no! Nature has found control over them.

Just imagine that with this ovipositor, as thick as a hair, a rider is able to pierce a thick layer of bark! But it really is. Such a "drilling" operation sometimes lasts several hours.

But before proceeding to this stage, you first need to complete another, no less difficult task - to determine the location of the future "cradle" for your kids. Thus, we smoothly move on to discussing another unique ability of these ichneumons - the exact location of these larvae.

First, the female runs along the tree trunk and, in search of the location of the victim, taps it with her long antennae. But just locating it is not enough. The main difficulty lies in the fact that you need to lay your eggs in a certain place on the body of the larva, and not just anywhere. Therefore, the female ichneumon, it is not clear how, calculates the desired angle of inclination, under which it is necessary to introduce its ovipositor into the wood. In this case, it is also worth considering the speed of movement of the larva.

Having introduced her eggs into the victim, the female rider leaves a special scent mark. This is done so that other females know that it is already “busy” here. But the most annoying thing is that it is possible to find out about this only by drilling another hole and reaching the body of the victim.

But if another female neglects this signal and lays her eggs (egg) in an already “occupied” larva, then after a while real hostilities flare up inside her.

Trichogramma

A variety of insects from the trichogrammatid family. Very small insects, usually less than 1 mm long, that lay their eggs in pest eggs and destroy them. At present, trichogramma is grown in special laboratory nurseries and released into gardens and orchards at the rate of 50-60 thousand individuals per 1 ha.

Her females lay eggs on sawfly larvae, caterpillars, bedbugs and beetles. Hatching insects destroy the pests on which they are located.

Tahini, hedgehogs

These flies love sunny but not hot weather. At this time, tahini can most often be seen on plant flowers, where they feed on pollen and nectar. But not all species are most active during daylight hours.

If adult flies are true vegetarians, then their larvae are 100% predators.

According to the method of infecting other insects with their larvae, all acorns can be divided into 3 groups:

♦ The first ones lay their eggs on the leaves of plants, where sawfly caterpillars, butterfly caterpillars and other insect pests crawl nearby. Their eggs are so small that caterpillars, eating a leaf, may not even notice them.

Tahini, hedgehogs

♦ The latter specialize in soil insects and lay their eggs in the ground, where the larvae that hatch after some time begin to independently search for their future food base (adult insects or their larvae).

♦ Still others lay their eggs directly "in" or "on" the body of the insect.

They are especially good for fighting the Colorado potato beetle, gypsy moths, May beetles, bedbugs, butterflies and other pests.

Settlement of riders in the garden: it is necessary to arrange wintering “apartments” in tall grass or in roots under bushes, etc. Riders like to settle in umbrella plants (dill, coriander, lovage, cumin, kupyr, etc.).

Phytoseiulus (Phytoseiulus)

A predatory mite that destroys the spider mite. Features of nutrition and reproduction of phytoseiulus lead to the rapid destruction of the bulk of the pest. The predator is especially effective at high humidity and moderate temperatures.

Adult females lay up to 6 eggs per day, in their entire life they bring up to 100 eggs. Oval eggs. The color of the eggs is milky white, with a yellow tint.

The eggs hatch into yellowish-orange larvae with six pairs of legs. The body length of the larvae is approximately 0.2 mm. The larvae are inactive, they do not eat anything. The larva turns into a nymph without feeding.

The nymph has 4 pairs of legs, it actively moves. Over time, the nymph turns into a mobile deutonymph, and the next stage is an adult.

Body color can be different: orange, cherry or dark red. The limbs are designed in a special way so that the mites can glide between the spider webs. Predators are adult phytoseiulus nymphs and deutonymphs, regardless of gender. Fitoseiulus feed not only on adult spider mites, but also on their eggs.

They are bred on vegetable crops in greenhouses. Phytoseiulus are indispensable protectors of tomato, sweet pepper, eggplant, strawberries, melons and ornamental plants.

Red-legged soft-boiled

The female lays her eggs in rotten stumps or soil and after some time dies along with the male. After a couple of weeks, dark-colored larvae hatch from them, covered with thick hairs and in appearance resembling beads connected to each other.

The larvae live and feed by running fast in their shelter and stay there until spring, at the end of which they turn into a chrysalis. After 2 weeks, an adult beetle crawls out of the pupa, ready to continue life in a month.

A small insect with powerful jaws, Iis a predator and preys on small insects such as aphids, flies, various larvae, caterpillars, leaf-eating pests, attacking them, biting and injecting poison, like a snake. After that, they release a digestive fluid that liquefies the tissues of the victim, and then suck the food into themselves. As for the larvae, they are also predators and catch any small living creatures that they can catch.

Also, beetles can eat flower petals and leaves, but very rarely.

The praying mantis is practically omnivorous in its taste preferences, and not only aphids, mealybugs, thrips, caterpillars, corn bore bugs, but also small lizards and young snakes become the subject of its hunting.

The female lays from 10 to 400 eggs, which, like cockroaches, she packs in ootheca. Ooteka are hung on the grass or on the branches of trees and shrubs. In regions with fairly cold winters, ootheca are the overwintering stage.

The praying mantis in the first larval stage has a worm-like shape, and, having left the ootheca, it molts and acquires the characteristic appearance of a praying mantis.

Praying mantis prey - vole mouse

In the middle of the 20th century, attempts were made in the USSR to enhance the useful role of praying mantises in agriculture, using them for biological pest control. In the US and some South Asian regions, praying mantises are kept at home as fly killers, and ootheca praying mantises are also sold to farmers who plant them in their gardens. Praying mantises are one of the most popular pet insects today.

Earwig

The common earwig, belonging to the leather-winged order, is well known to gardeners and gardeners. The length of the body is 3.5-5 mm, the front wings are solid, the hind wings are membranous. There are also wingless forms. Its claws located in the back of the body are impressive. The earwig hunts mainly at dusk and at night, and during the day it hides in dark narrow crevices.

By exterminating harmful insects, such as dahlia woodlice, earwigs can damage delicate young dahlia plants.

In spring and autumn, the female lays up to 100 eggs in a mink, which she pulls out herself, protects them and takes care of her offspring - first the eggs, and later the larvae. Earwigs overwinter in shelters - in the bark of trees, cracks in buildings, in the soil, flower pots filled with small chips or some other material, such as moss.

Settlement in the garden: as shelters, you can use flower pots filled with wood shavings, moss or hay. Such pots are displayed between vegetable crops or hung on trees. For the winter, the pots should be cleaned out, and refilled in the spring. Digging near the trunk circles of trees contributes to the normal functioning of the insect. Often, earwigs also seek shelter for the winter precisely under the trees, in its fallen leaves.

bedbugs

The predatory bug belongs to the class of weevils. Its various species have specific food sources. For some, it is the juice of a plant, for others, insects. For the gardener, the latter are primarily interesting, which, among other things, destroy aphids. These include soft-bodied and false bugs, among which some species feed mainly on spider mites.

Flower bugs are small predatory insects 3-4 mm long. For 1 time, the female lays up to 8 eggs, mainly along the edges of the leaves. For a year, bugs breed 2 generations, and in areas with a warm climate even 3. Predatory bugs overwinter as adults. Larger species of flower bugs also feed on gall midge larvae.

Settlement in the garden: no special requirements and recommendations, except for the exclusion of the use of chemical plant protection products.

Some types of wasps

First type: for all their sluggishness, wasp larvae are insectivorous, although they do not hunt on their own, but feed only on those insects that adults bring them. Adult wasps of these species feed on the nectar of flowers, sweet juices of berries and fruits, but for the younger generation they catch insects, chew them and feed them in the form of a mushy mass.

The brood is fed by social wasps:

• paper;
• European and Asian hornets;
• Polybean wasps in the USA.

Second type: in most solitary wasps, the female prepares for the larvae a small nest in the form of a mink in the ground or a small paper shelter attached to a vertical surface. The female brings a paralyzed but not poisoned insect into this chamber and lays an egg on it. A wasp larva hatched from an egg slowly eats an insect, and begins to do this from those organs, the loss of which does not lead to the instant death of the victim.

In some of these wasps, the female sacrifices once, lays an egg, and clogs the burrow. In others, an adult may visit the nest from time to time and bring additional insects into it.

Settlement in the garden: put a Fabre hive in the garden, etc. (see information below)

Gallica

Various species of the gall midge family are better known to amateur gardeners as harmful insects (the larvae of a number of species develop in plant tissues, causing the formation of galls) than they help in pest control. The body length of gall midges varies from 1 to 5 mm. Known pests in the garden include, for example, pear gall midge.

Useful gall midges feed on the stage of aphid larvae. The most important species is the Galicia aphidimiza (Aphidoletes aphidimyza). The female (about 2-3 mm in size) lays 50-60 eggs in one life span of 1 week not far from the aphid colony. Orange-red larvae hatch on the 4-7th day. The latter bite the aphids by the legs and inject a paralyzing fluid. The bitten aphid dies and is used by the larva for food. After 2 weeks, a fully formed larva falls to the ground and turns into a cocoon on the ground. After 3 weeks, a second brood hatches, whose cocooned larvae overwinter on the ground and hatch in the spring as adults.

Settlement in the garden: no special conditions are required, except for the complete exclusion of the use of chemicals.

The main natural enemy of caterpillars, scoops, beetles and fleas.

Ground beetle larvae feed on vegetable fly eggs, small insects and their larvae, worms, and slugs. These beetles are rarely seen in the garden during the day, they hide in shelters. The length of the ground beetle is up to 4 cm, it is very mobile. Many species cannot fly and therefore are active at night. The color of the ground beetle is the most varied: large black and completely yellow shimmering species are known. Adult insects hibernate in the garden in secluded protected corners, for example, under the house or woodpile.

Large ground beetles lay 40-60 eggs separately in shallow holes in the ground. The eggs hatch into larvae after a few days and hatch, depending on the species, 2-3 years before the pupa.

After a pupal period lasting approximately 2-3 weeks, adult (developed) ground beetles hatch from them. Along with ground beetles, which live mainly on the ground, there are also arboreal and flying species. They feed on small insects and worms and therefore live in decaying organic matter, such as compost.

Settlement in the garden: ground beetles should be provided with shelter (foliage, sawdust and shavings, small heaps of stones), they live on open ground, sometimes hiding in earth cracks. Pesticides are the most terrible enemy of ground beetles!

The best living space that can attract beneficial insects are boards and sawdust, as well as tree bark and foliage.

The "ladybug" and "butterfly" houses sold in Europe usually look like little birdhouses or mailboxes. They are sometimes interestingly decorated and serve as decoration for a summer cottage. You can make such a house yourself. However, it must be admitted that this building is purely decorative, since neither ladybugs nor butterflies need houses in the summer. Unless you specifically attract them with pheromones or a nutrient mixture, they will only get there by accident.

As for wintering, wintering insects really need shelter where they can survive the cold. In our climate, it is desirable to arrange such shelters closer to the ground so that they are covered with snow. Old woodpile, boards laid on the ground, pieces of bark, heaps of leaves and shavings gather a motley company under their roof. Here are centipedes - drupes and nods, worms, and, of course, insects - ground beetles, various larvae, earwigs. Earwigs are usually considered pests, although they only begin to damage plants if they multiply strongly. At the same time, the earwig is not averse to hunting for harmful insects.

Several cardboard tubes with a diameter of a little finger or a pencil and a length of 15–20 cm, tightly closed at one end, will serve as an apartment building for solitary bees. Unlike social bees and wasps, they are completely non-aggressive even near their homes, while pollinating plants no worse than a domestic honey bee. Some species of bees have also become rare in the European part of our country.

A bunch of tubes (in a horizontal position) can be hung under the roof of a house, a barn, in any other place protected from rain. Or make a house like for ladybugs and fill it with tightly packed tubules. Instead of paper tubes, you can take segments of stems of umbrella, reed or other similar plants. It is in them that single bees settle in nature.

You can drill holes in a piece of wood. Such a building is called beehive fabre"- the famous French naturalist Jean Henri Fabre was the first to decide in such a simple way to settle single bees literally under the roof of his house. It is very interesting to watch their work and habits.

Specialized predatory insects are looking for their "owner" i.e. pest, regardless of its abundance. Therefore, in the garden there should always be a certain number of different pests, no matter how paradoxical it sounds! Usually, plants are planted in a hedge around the garden, on which pests develop and predatory insects survive. Only in this case can they prevent pest outbreaks. Polyphagous predatory insects show interest in one or another type of pest only when its abundance is high, so they are usually late.

Therefore, a variety of predatory insect species is necessary for sustainable pest control. And to expand the species composition and reproduction of predatory insects, their fodder nectar-bearing plants should be sown. These are usually compound umbelliferous and paniculate plants whose many small flowers provide many sources of nectar and together form a place where beneficial insects, including bees, and butterflies can sit.

Among the plants that attract insects - the defenders of the garden, the following should be noted:

The advantage of tansy is that the infusion of tansy leaves repels the Colorado potato beetle. I’ll add from myself, abundant herbage of tansy is good to use in composts. In such compost, the larvae of the bear and the May beetle do not start.

Decoctions from the leaves and flowers of tansy contain many different vitamins, essential substances, improve the taste of kvass, dough, and jam is made from flowers.

Chamomile. Perennial plant, attractive to wasps and flies. During the flowering period, it is covered with many yellow flowers.

Lemon marigolds. Attracts small wasps and spiders. Seedlings are planted in the ground at a time when the danger of frost has passed.

Caraway. Attracts cunning bugs, spiders, small wasps, hoverflies and lacewings during the flowering period. Its fragrant seeds are used in bread baking and for making marinades.

Dill fragrant. Attracts ladybugs, hoverflies, small wasps, nestlings and spiders.

Buckwheat. It is an effective soil-forming plant that increases the content of organic matter when plowed.

honey plant. It attracts not only pollinating bees, but also flies, ladybugs, hoverflies, predatory bugs.

Spearmint used to make refreshing teas and as fragrances. Mint is attractive to flies and spiders.

Many types of legumes have the ability to attract beneficial insects, for example, crimson clover, creeping clover, and vetch. They provide beneficial insects with constant food and moisture, enrich the soil with nitrogen.

To ensure that there are flowering plants that are attractive to beneficial insects for the whole season, you need to start with those that bloom earlier, for example, buckwheat, which will be replaced by fragrant dill. Immediately you need to plant marigolds, calendula, so that they bloom in the middle of summer. You should grow tansy, sweet clover and navel, which bloom for a long time from year to year.

It is advisable not to dig up plots of land with such plants in autumn so that beneficial insects overwinter there.

The task of using beneficial insects is not to completely destroy pests, but to control their numbers.

By creating conditions that would combine a favorable environment for beneficial insects and decorativeness, a natural balance can be achieved between the number of harmful and beneficial insects.

Not only birds play a huge role in summer cottages. Other useful animals also provide benefits. They can live alone or in entire colonies. Some of them need to be invited to the site, and some are simply impossible to withdraw. Useful animals for the garden eat insects, repel rats and mice. In the article we will consider the best defenders of the garden.

1. Frogs and toads. They eat only harmful insects, hunt at night. Frogs in one night can destroy up to 2 grams of pests, and a toad up to four. They do not disdain to eat mosquitoes, ants, slugs, butterflies and even wireworms. There were cases when toads destroyed weevils, caterpillars, larvae. The animals themselves are prey for hedgehogs, mice, birds, snakes. They do not harm your crop. The best way to attract toads and frogs to your garden is to dig a small pond that will constantly fill with water. It can be beautifully decorated and even made the highlight of your garden.

2. Hedgehogs. They also eat insects. Do not try to bring a hedgehog into the house, let the animal live where it is convenient for him, otherwise the hedgehog will leave your summer cottage altogether. These useful animals enjoy eating larvae, slugs, caterpillars, worms, and leaf beetles. Hedgehogs also prey on rodents, they can destroy a snake and small birds. They have an excellent appetite, so they can eat all night long. This behavior can be easily explained - the animal accumulates fat in order to survive the winter. Often lives under shrubs, where there is a lot of foliage. To attract this animal to the dacha, you need to make a dwelling from a hedge with branches and uncultivated land. You need to place it where there are no people and animals, then the hedgehogs will feel good, and will not leave your site for a long time. You can feed this useful animal with dry food for dogs or cats, oatmeal, nuts and fruits. Intensive top dressing should be carried out before frost.

3. Shrews. The most common species is the shrew shrew. By color, it can easily be confused with a mouse. But the shrew has fur on its belly and its muzzle is much longer. It is a very small animal that loves to eat insects. Out of 24 hours a day, about 15 hours, the animal tries to get food for itself. Helps to remove worms, larvae, slugs, spiders, caterpillars from the garden. In winter, the animal does not leave the garden and does not fall asleep. It digs snow in search of food, even eats old seeds. If you suddenly meet her, do not expel the animal, but rather feed it.

4. Lizards. These garden protectors are completely harmless. They feed on insects such as moths, butterflies, larvae, spiders and grasshoppers. To attract them to your garden, install small sandboxes in which these useful animals will lay their eggs.

Useful animals found in almost everyone. Don't kick them out! Provide garden protectors with decent living conditions and enjoy a garden without harmful insects.

Views: 10250

28.04.2016

One of the biological methods of natural protection of plants in the garden involves the use of beneficial insects as natural enemies of harmful organisms, their study and assistance in settling in the garden and life in it.

Beneficial insects

Ladybug

The ladybug is a well-known beneficial insect in the garden. It belongs to round beetles and, depending on the species, is 4-9 mm long. The most common is the seven-spot ladybird. The beetle got its name for 7 black dots on the red elytra. But there are also beetles with yellow elytra and black dots, or dark beetles with light spots or without them at all. Also, the number of spots or the pattern of the wings can be varied. In total, we have about 70 species of large ladybirds, among which about 50 species feed on leaf aphids, and the rest on shell aphids and spider mites. Ladybugs, along with other leaf aphid killers, are the most important helpers in the garden.



Adult ladybugs hibernate outdoors, such as under foliage or dry grass. In spring, ladybugs lay 10-20 eggs vertically in a group on branches or on the inside of a leaf close to aphid colonies. The larvae from the eggs go through 4 stages. They are usually painted in dark gray with a yellow or red pattern. At the end of the larval stage, ladybugs begin to pupate and, as a rule, acquire a yellow color. After leaving the pupa, the beetle needs another 2-3 days before it acquires the final color. It is especially important that both the larvae and the beetles themselves belong to the species of predatory insects and feed on aphids.


The seven-spot ladybug known to us destroys up to 150 aphids per day, smaller species - up to 60. While still being larvae, insects devour a total of up to 800 aphids. So, the female beetle destroys about 4 thousand adult aphids in her life.

When using a ladybug as a plant protection, its development cycles should be taken into account.

Stetorus, or tick ladybug

Active exterminator of spider mites. This is a very small, mobile, like mercury, beetle with shiny black elytra, a rounded body shape and a very small size for a beetle - 1-1.5 mm. The larva is small, gray, very mobile. Both beetles and larvae actively feed on mites and their eggs, destroying from 800 to 2000 pest individuals in their lifetime.

You can find beetles in places of accumulation of spider mites, most often on raspberries, on the back of the leaves. There were cases when, even under production conditions, with a strong infection of raspberries with a spider mite, a predator completely exterminated the pest in a few days, and there was no need for chemical treatment. In the garden, the conditions for the stetorus are more favorable, and if, when a spider mite is found, you notice tiny black bugs on the back of the leaves, you should not worry: it will do its job - it will clean the plants from the spider mite quickly and efficiently.

By the way, both ladybugs and stetorus can be collected somewhere else and released in your garden, they take root perfectly.

Osmia

These are fluffy solitary bees - and completely harmless. Here is a huge benefit to the garden. They fly out to collect nectar at air temperatures at which an ordinary domestic bee does not even show its nose from the hive. If you do not have buildings with a thatched roof on the site, we recommend making houses for osmium. Not only marsh plants, but also banal pieces of wood with drilled holes are suitable as houses. You can also use elderberry branches, inside they have a soft core that must be removed, and a hollow tube will remain - a house for osmium.

Osmia settle in the most unexpected places - in the hole from under the old nail, in the crevices. If a house is installed, osmia will take root, and you will be with apples, the garden will be pollinated perfectly.

bees

Bees are the true friends of the garden, as they bring him great benefits. They are the only reliable helpers of agronomists and gardeners. It is known that the vast majority of varieties of apple, pear, plum, cherry, raspberry, gooseberry are self-fertile, that is, their ovaries cannot be fertilized by their own pollen.
Thus, bees in the garden bring great benefits to humans in that, while collecting pollen from flowers, they simultaneously cross-pollinate plants.

bumblebees

Bumblebees are one of the most cold-resistant insects, well adapted to life in the harsh conditions of the north, where other pollinators either cannot live or fly for a short time.

Thanks to their long proboscis, they can extract nectar even from flowers with narrow corollas, thereby collecting pollen from plants inaccessible to other insects.

Bumblebees collect not only nectar, but also pollen from plants. Bumblebees carry this delicacy to the nest with special devices that are located on their hind legs. But pollen gets not only into special recesses on the paws. Sometimes dust particles linger on the abdomen, and then transferred to another flower.

Bumblebees can collect pollen and nectar from plants very, very quickly. Biologists have calculated that only one field bumblebee visits 2634 flowers during a flight lasting 100 minutes. Therefore, bumblebees are considered to be the best pollinators of this valuable fodder plant.

Gallica

Various species of the gall midge family are better known to amateur gardeners as harmful insects (the larvae of a number of species develop in plant tissues, causing the formation of galls) than they help in pest control. The body length of gall midges varies from 1 to 5 mm. Known pests in the garden include, for example, pear gall midge.

Useful gall midges feed on the stage of aphid larvae. The most important species is Aphidoletes aphidimyza. The female (about 2-3 mm in size) lays 50-60 eggs in one life span of 1 week not far from the aphid colony. Orange-red larvae hatch on the 4-7th day. The latter bite the aphids by the legs and inject a paralyzing fluid. The bitten aphid dies and is used by the larva for food. After 2 weeks, a fully formed larva falls to the ground and turns into a cocoon on the ground. After 3 weeks, a second brood hatches, whose cocooned larvae overwinter on the ground and hatch in the spring as adults.

Ground beetle

From early spring to late autumn, quickly escaping beetles are found in gardens - these are predatory ground beetles that destroy eggs, larvae (caterpillars), pupae and adults of many harmful insects. One ground beetle per day can destroy three to five gooseberry moth caterpillars, up to ten sawfly caterpillars, up to a hundred gall midge larvae.

They hunt at night, so they are rarely seen during the day. Beetles overwinter in the soil.

ground beetle larvae

Ground beetle larvae feed on vegetable fly eggs, small insects and their larvae, worms, and slugs. These beetles are rarely seen in the garden during the day, they hide in shelters. The length of the ground beetle is up to 4 cm, it is very mobile. Many species cannot fly and therefore are active at night. The color of the ground beetle is the most varied: large black and completely yellow shimmering species are known. Adult insects hibernate in the garden in secluded protected corners, for example, under the house or woodpile.

Large ground beetles lay 40-60 eggs separately in shallow holes in the ground. The eggs hatch into larvae after a few days and hatch, depending on the species, 2-3 years before the pupa. After a pupal period lasting approximately 2-3 weeks, adult (developed) ground beetles hatch from them. Along with ground beetles, which live mainly on the ground, there are also arboreal and flying species. They feed on small insects and worms and therefore live in decaying organic matter, such as compost.

It is necessary to provide ground beetles with shelter (foliage, sawdust and shavings, small heaps of stones), they live on open ground, sometimes hiding in earth cracks.

Pesticides are the most terrible enemy of ground beetles!

Hoverflies

Hoverflies are of great importance in horticulture because their larvae feed on aphids. Larvae develop in different conditions - in soil, slurry or on plants. Visually, the hoverfly looks like a wasp, the length of an adult is 8-15 mm. The peculiarity of hoverflies, reflected in their name, is that in flight they can, as it were, hover in place, while making a sound that vaguely resembles the murmur of water.

Egg laying occurs in aphid colonies. Eggs 1 mm long, white. The larvae hatched from the eggs do not have legs and move like snails. They are white or yellow in color and look like fly larvae.

To hunt for aphids, hoverflies use their hook-shaped jaws, with which they firmly hold prey, sucking it out. The development of the larva to the pupal stage lasts 2 weeks. During this time, the larva eats up to 700 aphids. Hoverfly larvae are active mainly at night and do not go hunting until dusk. The hoverfly survives the pupal stage in a shell in the form of a droplet, located near the aphid colony on leaves or on the ground. Some species breed several generations, most - up to 5 per year. In some species, females hibernate in the same way as larvae or pupae. The hoverflies themselves feed on flower and honeydew, as well as aphid secretions.

Areas with flowering plants are most suitable for hoverflies, but not well-groomed lawns. Plants that bloom with yellow flowers are especially fond of hoverflies.

For overwintering hoverflies, you can leave small wooden boxes filled with dry grass or shavings.

Spiders

Everyone knows these insects with a rounded abdomen and a fused cephalothorax. However, not everyone knows about their role in nature. Most of them are predators. Spiders are found in the soil, under fallen leaves, on herbaceous plants and trees. Often the web woven by spiders is confused with the web left by the common spider mite.

Trichogramma

Trichogramma females, 2-3 hours after birth and mating, begin to search for butterfly eggs, and when they find them, they pierce them with their ovipositor and lay their eggs in them. Depending on the size of the host egg, from 1 to 60 egg-eaters can develop in it. The duration of development depends, first of all, on temperature conditions and lasts from 8 days at 30ºС, 11 - at 25ºС, up to 53 days at 11ºС. The life span of an adult entomophage depends on temperature, humidity and carbohydrate nutrition (2-5 days without food, up to 7-15 days with feeding).

Goldeneye and its larvae

The lacewing, along with ladybugs, is an enemy of aphids. In our gardens, the most common species is green with yellow eyes. The beetle got its name precisely for these eyes. An adult has a wingspan of up to 3 cm. Green oblong insects wear house-shaped, transparent veined wings, folding them on the lower part of a long body.

The female lays about 20 greenish eggs individually or in groups on the bark or leaves. The larvae hatched from eggs develop within 2-3 weeks depending on weather conditions. Their length is only 7 mm, the jaws are long, sickle-shaped and pointed. The larvae feed on small insects, especially aphids. Individual individuals are capable of destroying up to 500 aphids during development.

After 18 days, the larvae hide in a protected place, wrap themselves around and turn into a white round cocoon. After the lacewing emerges from the cocoon, the next generation begins. In total, 2 generations can appear in a year. Adults feed, as a rule, on honeydew and pollen, on occasion they do not disdain small insects. The adult lacewing hibernates in secluded corners, so sometimes it can be found in residential areas. During the wintering period, the insect may acquire a yellow or brown color, but in the spring it turns green again.

aphids lion

Along with the common lacewing, we also have about 42 species of aphid lions, which, like the lacewing, belong to true lacewings. One of the most famous species has a wingspan (brown with a specific shape) of about 3 cm. Adults and larvae feed on aphids and contribute to the biological balance in the fight against this pest.

The use for targeted biological plant protection in greenhouses and protected ground has been tested with good results. To do this, it is necessary to place 20 lacewing eggs for each square meter of surface, which can be purchased at special biological laboratories.

Riders

The rider likes to settle in umbrella plants (dill, coriander, cumin, kupyr, etc.).

earwig

The common earwig, belonging to the leather-winged order, is well known to gardeners and gardeners. The length of the body is 3.5-5 mm, the front wings are solid, the hind wings are membranous. There are also wingless forms. Its claws located in the back of the body are impressive. The earwig hunts mainly at dusk and at night, and during the day it hides in dark narrow crevices.

By exterminating harmful insects, such as dahlia woodlice, earwigs can damage delicate young dahlia plants.

In spring and autumn, the female lays up to 100 eggs in a mink, which she pulls out herself, protects them and takes care of her offspring - first the eggs, and later the larvae. Earwigs overwinter in shelters - in the bark of trees, cracks in buildings, in the soil, flower pots filled with small chips or some other material, such as moss.

As shelters, you can use flower pots filled with wood shavings, moss or hay. Such pots are displayed between vegetable crops or hung on trees.

For the winter, the pots should be cleaned out, and refilled in the spring.

Digging near the trunk circles of trees contributes to the normal functioning of the insect. Often, earwigs also seek shelter for the winter precisely under the trees, in its fallen leaves.

bedbugs

The predatory bug belongs to the class of weevils. Its various species have specific food sources. For some, it is the juice of a plant, for others, insects. For a gardener, the latter are of interest, first of all, which, among other things, destroy aphids. These include soft-bodied and false bugs, among which some species feed mainly on spider mites.

Flower bugs are small predatory insects 3-4 mm long. For 1 time, the female lays up to 8 eggs, mainly along the edges of the leaves. For a year, bugs breed 2 generations, and in areas with a warm climate even 3. Predatory bugs overwinter as adults. Larger species of flower bugs also feed on gall midge larvae.

How to attract insects to the garden?

If we take a lot of useful insects from somewhere and release them into the garden, then the effect will be only short-term. It is much more important that beneficial insects take root in the garden. To do this, you need to create suitable conditions for them. First of all, it is a food base and places for shelter and reproduction of beneficial insects.




For reproduction and increase in the species composition of beneficial insects, including predatory (entomophages), it is important to take into account their features:

Predatory insects are attracted to flowering plants, not pests (phytophages);
- Predatory insects use for reproduction and destroy the type of "host", i.e., the pest on which they themselves developed.

So, beneficial insects are attracted to the garden by flowering plants (flowering weeds), not pests.

The presence in the garden and on lawns, in the fields of natural nectar-bearing flowers, even in small quantities, allows predatory insects to carry out additional nutrition in the breeding stages. Moreover, some predatory insects are able to reproduce effectively only by combining feeding on nectar or honeydew and insect prey. Therefore, the presence of flowering weeds, even in the fields where crops are grown, at a level below the economic threshold of harmfulness, increases the effectiveness of predatory insects and is considered appropriate.

There must always be a certain number of different pests in the garden in order for beneficial insects to survive.




Specialized predatory insects look for their "owner", i.e., the pest, no matter how numerous it is. Therefore, once again, there should always be a certain number of different pests in the garden, no matter how paradoxical it sounds! Usually, plants are planted in a hedge around the garden, on which pests develop and predatory insects survive. Only in this case can they prevent pest outbreaks. Polyphagous predatory insects show interest in one or another type of pest only when its abundance is high, so they are usually late.

Therefore, a variety of predatory insect species is necessary for sustainable pest control. And to expand the species composition and reproduction of predatory insects, their fodder nectar-bearing plants should be sown. These are usually compound umbelliferous and paniculate plants whose many small flowers provide many sources of nectar and together form a place where beneficial insects, including bees, and butterflies can sit.

Plants that attract beneficial insects

Tansy

The advantage of tansy is that the infusion of tansy leaves repels the Colorado potato beetle. I’ll add from myself, abundant herbage of tansy is good to use in composts. In such compost, the larvae of the bear and the May beetle do not start.

Decoctions from the leaves and flowers of tansy contain many different vitamins, essential substances, improve the taste of kvass, dough, and jam is made from flowers.

Chamomile

Perennial plant, attractive to wasps and flies. During the flowering period, it is covered with many yellow flowers.

Lemon marigolds

Attracts small wasps and spiders. Seedlings are planted in the ground at a time when the danger of frost has passed.

Caraway

Attracts cunning bugs, spiders, small wasps, hoverflies and lacewings during the flowering period. Its fragrant seeds are used in bread baking and for making marinades.

Dill fragrant

Attracts ladybugs, hoverflies, small wasps and spiders.

Buckwheat

It is an effective soil-forming plant that increases the content of organic matter when plowed.

honey plant

It attracts not only pollinating bees, but also flies, ladybugs, hoverflies, predatory bugs.

Spearmint

It is used to make refreshing tea and as a fragrance. Mint is attractive to flies and spiders.




Many types of legumes have the ability to attract beneficial insects, for example: crimson clover, creeping clover, vetch. They provide beneficial insects with constant food and moisture, enrich the soil with nitrogen.

In order to ensure the presence of flowering plants that are attractive to beneficial insects for the whole season, you need to start with those that bloom earlier, for example, with buckwheat, which will be replaced by fragrant dill. Immediately you need to plant marigolds, calendula, so that they bloom in the middle of summer. You should grow tansy, sweet clover and navel, which bloom for a long time from year to year.

The task of using beneficial insects is not to completely destroy pests, but to control their numbers.

By creating conditions that would combine a favorable environment for beneficial insects and decorativeness, a natural balance can be achieved between the number of harmful and beneficial insects.

Although at first glance these insects, freshwater and reptiles are very unpleasant and can cause, if you notice them in the garden and in the garden, one desire is to quickly remove them from your land, but they can be very useful for preserving the crop until it is harvested. These are the inhabitants of the garden and the garden are biologists to be very useful.

Ladybug

There are reasonable gardeners and gardeners who specifically find wintering places for ladybugs (usually they winter in the forest crust, you can find their “laying” places in April) and transfer them to their garden, both larvae and older individuals. On the bark of trees in May, you can also see yellow eggs of ladybug larvae. Don't destroy them. The ladybug will still repay with interest for the kindness of the gardener. Both beetles and larvae eat spider mites, aphids, eggs and hatched small caterpillars.

lacewing

You can easily distinguish a lacewing from other flying insects - it has a lot of veins on its wings, as well as shiny golden eyes, for this feature of appearance it was nicknamed.

Ground beetle

garden spiders

hoverfly

garden ants

Of the minuses - the presence of many ants in the garden helps aphids breed. They can also harm fruits, berries, leaves of trees. Trees can be protected from crawling ants by scattering ash from the stove or grated chalk under them. Ant beds can be sprinkled with a mixture of sawdust and peat, to which creolin is added.

Frogs, toads, lizards

One of the biological methods of natural protection of plants in the garden involves the use of beneficial insects as natural enemies of harmful organisms, their study and assistance in settling in the garden and life in it. What insects are beneficial? Let's get to know them a little closer.

Ladybug

The ladybug is a well-known beneficial insect in the garden. It belongs to round beetles and, depending on the species, is 4-9 mm long. The most common is the seven-spot ladybird. The beetle got its name for 7 black dots on the red elytra. But there are also beetles with yellow elytra and black dots, or dark beetles with light spots or without them at all. Also, the number of spots or the pattern of the wings can be varied. In total, we have about 70 species of large ladybugs, among which about 50 species feed on leafy aphids, and the rest on shell aphids and spider mites. Ladybugs, along with other leaf aphid killers, are the most important helpers in the garden.

Adult ladybugs hibernate outdoors, such as under foliage or dry grass. In spring, ladybugs lay 10-20 eggs vertically in a group on branches or on the inside of a leaf close to aphid colonies. The larvae from the eggs go through 4 stages. They are usually painted in dark gray with a yellow or red pattern. At the end of the larval stage, ladybugs begin to pupate and, as a rule, acquire a yellow color. After leaving the pupa, the beetle needs another 2-3 days before it acquires the final color. It is especially important that both the larvae and the beetles themselves belong to the species of predatory insects and feed on aphids.

The seven-spot ladybug known to us destroys up to 150 aphids per day, smaller species - up to 60. While still larvae, insects devour a total of up to 800 aphids. So, the female beetle destroys about 4 thousand adult aphids in her life.

Settlement in the garden:

• When using a ladybug as a plant protection, her development cycles should be taken into account!
• For wintering, provide an insect with a shelter (foliage, stones, bark, etc.).

Gallica

Various species of the gall midge family are better known to amateur gardeners as harmful insects (the larvae of a number of species develop in plant tissues, causing the formation of galls) than they help in pest control. The body length of gall midges varies from 1 to 5 mm. Known pests in the garden include, for example, pear gall midge.

Useful gall midges feed on the stage of aphid larvae. The most important species is Aphidoletes aphidimyza. The female (about 2-3 mm in size) lays 50-60 eggs in one life span of 1 week not far from the aphid colony. Orange-red larvae hatch on the 4-7th day. The latter bite the aphids by the legs and inject a paralyzing fluid. The bitten aphid dies and is used by the larva for food. After 2 weeks, a fully formed larva falls to the ground and turns into a cocoon on the ground. After 3 weeks, a second brood hatches, whose cocooned larvae overwinter on the ground and hatch in the spring as adults.

Settlement in the garden:

• No special conditions are required, except for the complete exclusion of the use of chemicals in the garden.

ground beetle larvae

Ground beetle larvae feed on vegetable fly eggs, small insects and their larvae, worms, and slugs. These beetles are rarely seen in the garden during the day, they hide in shelters. The length of the ground beetle is up to 4 cm, it is very mobile. Many species cannot fly and therefore are active at night. The color of the ground beetle is the most varied: large black and completely yellow shimmering species are known. Adult insects hibernate in the garden in secluded protected corners, for example, under the house or woodpile.

Large ground beetles lay 40-60 eggs separately in shallow holes in the ground. The eggs hatch into larvae after a few days and hatch, depending on the species, 2-3 years before the pupa. After a pupal period lasting approximately 2-3 weeks, adult (developed) ground beetles hatch from them. Along with ground beetles, which live mainly on the ground, there are also arboreal and flying species. They feed on small insects and worms and therefore live in decaying organic matter, such as compost.

Settlement in the garden.

• It is necessary to provide ground beetles with shelter (foliage, sawdust and shavings, small heaps of stones), they live on open ground, sometimes hiding in earth cracks.
• Pesticides are the most terrible enemy of ground beetles!

Hoverflies

Hoverflies are of great importance in horticulture because their larvae feed on aphids. Larvae develop in different conditions - in the soil, slurry or on plants. Visually, the hoverfly looks like a wasp, the length of an adult is 8-15 mm. The peculiarity of hoverflies, reflected in their name, is that in flight they can, as it were, hover in place, while making a sound that vaguely resembles the murmur of water.

Egg laying occurs in aphid colonies. Eggs 1 mm long, white. The larvae hatched from the eggs do not have legs and move like snails. They are white or yellow in color and look like fly larvae.

To hunt for aphids, hoverflies use their hook-shaped jaws, with which they firmly hold prey, sucking it out. The development of the larva to the pupal stage lasts 2 weeks. During this time, the larva eats up to 700 aphids. Hoverfly larvae are active mainly at night and do not go hunting until dusk. The hoverfly survives the pupal stage in a shell in the form of a droplet, located near the aphid colony on leaves or on the ground. Some species breed several generations, most - up to 5 per year. In some species, females hibernate in the same way as larvae or pupae. The hoverflies themselves feed on flower and honeydew, as well as aphid secretions.

Pauline Smith

Settlement in the garden:

• Areas with flowering plants are most suitable for hoverflies, but not well-groomed lawns. Plants that bloom with yellow flowers are especially fond of hoverflies.
• For overwintering hoverflies, you can leave small wooden boxes filled with dry grass or shavings.

Lacewing and its larvae - Aphid lions

The lacewing, along with ladybugs, is an enemy of aphids. In our gardens, the most common species is green with yellow eyes. The beetle got its name precisely for these eyes. An adult has a wingspan of up to 3 cm. Green oblong insects wear house-shaped, transparent veined wings, folding them on the lower part of a long body.

The female lays about 20 greenish eggs individually or in groups on the bark or leaves. The larvae hatched from eggs develop within 2-3 weeks depending on weather conditions. Their length is only 7 mm, the jaws are long, sickle-shaped and pointed. The larvae feed on small insects, especially aphids. Individual individuals are capable of destroying up to 500 aphids during development.

After 18 days, the larvae hide in a protected place, wrap themselves around and turn into a white round cocoon. After the lacewing emerges from the cocoon, the next generation begins. In total, 2 generations can appear in a year. Adults feed, as a rule, on honeydew and pollen, on occasion they do not disdain small insects. The adult lacewing hibernates in secluded corners, so sometimes it can be found in residential areas. During the wintering period, the insect may acquire a yellow or brown color, but in the spring it turns green again.

aphids lion

Along with the common lacewing, we also have about 42 species of secret lions, which, like the lacewing, belong to real lacewings. One of the most famous species has a wingspan (brown with a specific shape) of about 3 cm. Adults and larvae feed on aphids and contribute to the biological balance in the fight against this pest.

Settlement in the garden:

• Prefer areas rich in flowering plants.
• Green-eyes need shelter for the winter in the form of small wooden houses stuffed with straw.

The use of lacewing for targeted biological plant protection in greenhouses and protected ground has been tested with good results. To do this, it is necessary to place 20 lacewing eggs for each square meter of surface, which can be purchased at special biological laboratories.

Riders

Riders can hibernate as larva, pupa, or adult. For 1 time, the female lays about 30 eggs in the cabbage caterpillar. In total, she can lay up to 200 eggs. After the larvae hatch in the caterpillar, the shell of its body cracks, releasing the larvae, which turn into pupae a little later.

Settlement in the garden:

• It is necessary to arrange wintering "apartments" in tall grass or in roots under bushes, etc.
• The rider likes to settle in umbrella plants (dill, coriander, lovage, cumin, kupyr, etc.)

earwig

The common earwig, belonging to the leather-winged order, is well known to gardeners and gardeners. The length of the body is 3.5-5 mm, the front wings are solid, the hind wings are membranous. There are also wingless forms. Its claws located in the back of the body are impressive. The earwig hunts mainly at dusk and at night, and during the day it hides in dark narrow crevices.

By exterminating harmful insects, such as dahlia woodlice, earwigs can damage delicate young dahlia plants.

In spring and autumn, the female lays up to 100 eggs in a mink, which she digs herself, guards them and takes care of her offspring - first the eggs, and later the larvae. Earwigs overwinter in shelters - in the bark of trees, cracks in buildings, in the soil, flower pots filled with small chips or some other material, such as moss.

Settlement in the garden:

• As shelters, you can use flower pots filled with wood shavings, moss or hay. Such pots are displayed between vegetable crops or hung on trees.
• For the winter, the pots should be cleaned out, and refilled in the spring.
• Digging near the trunk circles of trees contributes to the normal functioning of the insect. Often, earwigs also seek shelter for the winter precisely under the trees, in its fallen leaves.

bedbugs

The predatory bug belongs to the class of weevils. Its various species have specific food sources. For some, it is the juice of a plant, for others, insects. For the gardener, the latter are primarily interesting, which, among other things, destroy aphids. These include soft-bodied and false bugs, among which some species feed mainly on spider mites.

Flower bugs are small predatory insects 3-4 mm long. For 1 time, the female lays up to 8 eggs, mainly along the edges of the leaves. For a year, bugs breed 2 generations, and in areas with a warm climate even 3. Predatory bugs overwinter as adults. Larger species of flower bugs also feed on gall midge larvae.

Settlement in the garden:

• No special requirements and recommendations, except for the exclusion of the use of chemical plant protection products.

How to attract insects to the garden?

If we take a lot of useful insects from somewhere and release them into the garden, then the effect will be only short-term. It is much more important that beneficial insects take root in the garden. To do this, you need to create suitable conditions for them. First of all, it is a food base and places for shelter and reproduction of beneficial insects.

For reproduction and increase in the species composition of beneficial insects, including predatory (entomophages), it is important to take into account their features:

• predatory insects are attracted by flowering plants, and not by pests (phytophages);
• predatory insects use for reproduction and destroy that kind of "host" i.e. pest on which they have developed themselves.

So, beneficial insects are attracted to the garden by flowering plants (flowering weeds), not pests.

The presence in the garden and on lawns, in the fields of natural nectar-bearing flowers, even in small quantities, allows predatory insects to carry out additional nutrition in the breeding stages. Moreover, some predatory insects are able to reproduce effectively only by combining feeding on nectar or honeydew and insect prey. Therefore, the presence of flowering weeds, even in the fields where crops are grown, at a level below the economic threshold of harmfulness, increases the effectiveness of predatory insects and is considered appropriate.

There must always be a certain number of different pests in the garden in order for beneficial insects to survive.

Specialized predatory insects are looking for their "master" i.e. pest, regardless of its abundance. Therefore, once again, there should always be a certain number of different pests in the garden, no matter how paradoxical it sounds! Usually, plants are planted in a hedge around the garden, on which pests develop and predatory insects survive. Only in this case can they prevent pest outbreaks. Polyphagous predatory insects show interest in one or another type of pest only when its abundance is high, so they are usually late.

Therefore, a variety of predatory insect species is necessary for sustainable pest control. And to expand the species composition and reproduction of predatory insects, their fodder nectar-bearing plants should be sown. These are usually compound umbelliferous and paniculate plants whose many small flowers provide many sources of nectar and together form a place where beneficial insects, including bees, and butterflies can sit.

Plants that attract beneficial insects

Among the plants that attract insects - the defenders of the garden, the following should be noted:

Many types of legumes have the ability to attract beneficial insects, for example, crimson clover, creeping clover, and vetch. They provide beneficial insects with constant food and moisture, enrich the soil with nitrogen.

To ensure that there are flowering plants that are attractive to beneficial insects for the whole season, you need to start with those that bloom earlier, for example, buckwheat, which will be replaced by fragrant dill. Immediately you need to plant marigolds, calendula, so that they bloom in the middle of summer. You should grow tansy, sweet clover and navel, which bloom for a long time from year to year.

The task of using beneficial insects is not to completely destroy pests, but to control their numbers.

By creating conditions that would combine a favorable environment for beneficial insects and decorativeness, a natural balance can be achieved between the number of harmful and beneficial insects.

Looking forward to your advice and comments!