Beneficial Insects

• Examples of beneficial insects include lacewings, stink bugs, hover flies, minute pirate bugs, assassin bugs, paper wasps, cicada killer wasps, cricket hunter wasps, praying mantis, ground beetles, damsel bugs and ant lions.
  
  

Providing Habitat

• Many beneficial insects need flowers to thrive, so the University of Rhode Island's Landscape Horticulture program recommends dedicating at least five to 10 percent of any garden to flowers. Flowers planted in small groups throughout a garden provide predatory insects with sugar, protein and fat via nectar and pollen, places to find mates and relatively safe havens for immature insects to feed.
  
  

Insects vs. Chemicals

• While chemical sprays can often provide temporary relief from damaging garden insects, the long-term effects can include contaminating food and water sources and killing off beneficial insects. Additionally, too many beneficial insects die with chemical sprays, so nuisance insects may have the opportunity to build up their populations again.