Identifying and Attracting Beneficial Insects

The first and most important step in conserving beneficial insects in your yard is to stop using pesticides! Most products intended to kill pests will also kill beneficial insects, and even if they don't they may deter beneficials from your yard by reducing their food or habitat availability.

To attract more beneficials to your yard, plant pollen and nectar plants that will provide them with food (it is often the larvae stages of beneficial insects that act as predators on pests - but in order to have larvae you must attract adults!). Particularly attractive are herbs allowed to flower, such as coriander, fennel, dill, lavender, thyme, mint, and parsley. Flowers of the composite or daisy family are also appealing to beneficials. Examples include goldenrod, daisies, coneflowers, thistle, ironweed, sunflowers, coreopsis, and black-eyed Susan. Also consider leaving a few "weeds" at the borders of your garden - dandelions, goldenrod, wild carrot, lamb's quarters, nettles and wild mustard are excellent for beneficial insects.

Also try inter-cropping and providing a wide variety of plants and groundcovers. Mix plants that attract beneficials with those plants requiring protection. Place plants close together to provide moist shady environments. Include plants of different heights to provide the various types of habitats needed by different insects.

Finally, you can provide a source of water in dry summer months by putting out a shallow dish of water with stones to allow them dry places to land. However, keep in mind that insects you may be trying to keep out of your yard, such as mosquitoes, can breed in standing water. If you choose to put out water, you may wish to change it regularly in order to prevent mosquito breeding.

For more tips on identifying and attracting beneficials, check out these sites:

Canadian Wildlife Federation: Attracting Wildlife - Beneficial Insects

City of Edmonton: Backyard Beneficial Insect Guide

Cornell University: Biological Control - A Guide to Natural Enemies in North America

North Shore Recycling Program: Biological Pest Control

WLAP: Beneficial Insects