Entomology

Our gardens are heaving with many creatures like insects, mites, spiders. To a new gardener every “bug” is a likely suspect and tried to tackle the odd. As we study more about gardening and that vague thing called “the balance of nature,” we discover that very few insects are pests worth our concern. Most are either beneficial, of no direct significance, or have a role yet to be understood fully. Lady Bird Beetle (Adult) The fraction that is pests get a lot of attention. A few stink bugs on a tomato plant or some hungry flea beetles on an eggplant seedling are indeed cause for concern. However, our efforts to control these pests can have a direct effect on the “good guys of the garden.” Most sprays, whether organic or synthetic, tend to not discriminate between pests and beneficials. When you spray the garden, pests will be killed but so will beneficial insects. When you kill a beneficial insect you inherit its job. That lady beetle larvae may be about to eat several dozen