We have a few that live here. The ladybug is common. Ant lions like it near our house on the south side where they lie in wait for ants to tumble in to their large jaws. They then turn into Green Lacewings and travel about munching insects in time. I used to gather praying mantis cases at a nearby large field but it now has houses and a large lawn. Just ordered two cases don't ask how much :(( Bill
With one exception, I don't artificially introduce beneficial insects. After paying for them, too often they fly away to my neighbors. I do see swarms of lady bugs arrive naturally, often before I even notice aphids.
The one exception is that I set out carnivorous decollate snails, which eat the eggs and young of brown snails. These are legal only in certain areas (fortunately including where I live). See .
Not all ladybugs are beneficial. Some are carnivores and hunt insects. Some are herbivores and hunt plants you might want to keep. It pays to know the species that are found in your area and deal with them accordingly.
David
I heard something about this some where. Seems some NEW lady bugs are not desirable .
Id hazard a guess it is the Asian lady bugs.
All mine are locals that I try to protect. The purchase of Mantis new to me but the locals seem to have died out due to habitat loss. They seem to like what I'd call good pheasant cover. Weeds about 2 to 3 foot high.
The one I was thinking of is the 28 spot ladybird:
Possibly it is not found in North America and Europe, one reference suggests the range is India, Pakistan, China, Japan, SE Asia and Oceania.
David
It's "aphid lions" that turn into green lacewings. The young eat lots of aphids, and so do the adults of some species. Ant lions are in the same order but a different family.
Ant lions:
I won't, especially because according to Eaton and Kaufman in the Kaufman Field Guide to Insects of North America, the benefits of mantises are questionable, since they eat beneficial insects as well as destructive ones.
By the way, Eaton and Kaufman say you shouldn't do anything about aphids unless they're obviously doing damage, since they attract adult wasps and flies whose larvae parasitize other insects that do more damage.
I don't spray anything--I don't want the sprays around, and I like having a varied insect ecology in my yard. Fewer grasshoppers would be nice, but since I'm next to a big vacant lot, there's not much I can do.
-- Jerry Friedman
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