pests    

The Predators of
Garden Pests

    
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Gallery of Garden Heroes
ladybug   lady bug baby Ladybug Baby   black ground beetle   dragonfly

Adult Lady Bug, above
Eat several hundred soft bodied pests per day. 
Ladybugs eat aphids, mealy bugs, thrips, leafhoppers,
scale, whitefly eggs.
Don't mistake the different life stages for a pest!
1) Lady bugs lay bright yellow,
oval eggs in clusters where you will find other pest eggs.
(2) Tiny black & yellow or black & red, multi-segmented larvae,
resembling an alligator, feeds for 2 weeks before becoming the ladybug.

   Black Ground Beetles- 
Prey on termites, soil
dwelling pests, caterpillars,
slugs, aphids, grubs,
flea beetles, cutworms, thrips,
potato beetles, earwigs, mites		   Dragonfly- predator of many small
flying insects including termites,
fungus gnat, mosquitos, blackfly
             
spider yellow jackets mantis   frog   toad
Spiders, Yellow Jackets and Mantis-will eat almost anything.   Frogs eat hundreds of slugs, snails, worms, grubs, termites
and other soil-dwelling pests.
         
lacewing eggs lacewing larve lacewing  

snake

   ducks
lacewing eggs                   lacewing baby                                lacewing adult
Green lacewings- prey on aphids, mites, leafhoppers, thrips,
mealybugs, scale, white flies. 		  Snakes-eat hundreds of slugs,
snails, worms, grubs, termites
and other soil-dwelling pests.		  

 Ducks eat slugs!- and scale insects,
most soil-based larva, grubs, most
garden pests, worms, caterpillars, earwigs. 
             
parawasp   hoverfly   towhee   robin
Parasitic Wasps
-parasitizes aphids, many beetle
species, flies, caterpillars,
cutworms		  

Hover flies-predator of aphids,
mealy bugs, thrips, leafhoppers, scale.

   Birds- eats scale insects, most soil-based larva, grubs, most garden pests,
worms, caterpillars, earwigs. 
      tachinid fly        
    Tachinid Flies-parasitizes
aphids, many beetle species,
flies, caterpillars, cutworms.