Attracting beneficial insects

This is one of my favorite articles on attracting beneficial insect to your garden.

Thank you. That is a good article.

One other important factor for attracting them is always have water available for them.

For attracting native pollinators, get one of these free booklets for your bioregion:
http://www.pollinator.org/guides.htm
There is a box to enter your ZIP code. It will then direct you to the proper booklet.

Water is very, very important for insect diversity. A pond is ideal. Dragon-flies need water, dragon flies are predators.


Also letting the frass grow tall and flower is hugely beneficial for insects. Grasses flower and provide sustenance for insects even though for us we barely even see the flower

They say the endophyte in fescue kills game birds - does it also kill insects? I see crickets in the fields and grasshoppers but not a lot of pollinators on the grass.

endophyte infected (EI), as compared to endophytefree (EF)

"Several years ago, scientists in New Zealand found that the Argentine stem weevil would devastate EF, but not EI, perennial ryegrass. This insect is not a pest in the United States, but this knowledge is of concern because the endophytes in the two grasses are closely related.

Greenhouse and environmental chamber work at several locations has shown that several inset species prefer and/or develop more rapidly on EF fescue. Kentucky studies provided evidence that alkaloids in EI fescue are associated with increased resistance to insect feeding. A greenhouse study in Alabama revealed over three times as many spiral nematodes associated with the roots and soil of EF, than of EI, plants."
" - Drs. Don Ball and Steve Schmidt


Cool. didn't know. I still think that longer grass is better than your average bowling-green lawn(/desert) for insects. Just my opinion. But truthfully the grasses don't attract bees, butterflies or the typical pollinators, because they don't need them. But habitat for beetles, (mosquito) and pretty much every other insect. Reason being that dew/rain has much longer lasting effects in longer grass than something munched/cut short. And bugs love water =)

I notice native pollinators working the grass "flowers" at times. Sort of makes you fell silly for buying and planting all kinds of plants to attract them.

Some, tho, like the daisy types - purple cone flower, zinnias, daisies, etc. draw LOTS of butterflies and bees, and then if you don't deadhead, they also feed goldfinches, etc.