Beneficial Bugs

Crickets can be awfully noisy and sometimes destrutive. There are several types of crickets, three of the most popular are the house cricket, camel cricket and the field cricket.

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Springtails are very tiny (.25-1mm long) insects with humpbacks, scales, 6 legs and have no wings. Colours range, transparent, white and various greys or black. 

Springtails-NC State University, Springtail-Carlo Denegri Foundation

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Leaf-cutting bees (also called mason bees) are similar in colouration to the common honeybee but are a little smaller and darker with light yellow bands on their abdomen.

Leaf cutting bee-photo unknown

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Dragonflies have long stout bodies with 2 pair of transparent wings. Damselflies have thinner bodies & many species have metallic colourations. Both dragonfilies and damselflies sport large coloured eyes. 

Dragonfly (left)-Mark Simmons, Damselfly (right)-M. Reeder

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Millipedes are red, brown, black or coppery coloured with wormlike segments each having at least 2 pairs of legs for each segment. (not to be confused with centipedes that have only one pair of legs per segment).

Millipede(left)-Florida Agriculture, A group of millipedes (right)-J. Kalisch, UNL

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Soldier bugs are ‘True Bugs’ and are related to stink bug but are not harmful to your crops. They are a beneficial that we all need in our gardens. It’s not so much that they just eat the bugs but they also LAY their eggs on the dead bodies! 

Spined soldier bug-Perdue University

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Salamanders are not insects but really are cold-blooded amphibians. They are not lizard family as they do not have scales. They are another beneficial in nature. 

Cave Salamander-NCSA, Long Tail Salamander-Ken Felsom

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Earwigs are dark brown insects, with pincers at the rear end and are about 1.5cm long. They are scarey looking especially if you see them in your house. 

Male Euopean Earwig (left), Insect Photos.net, Female Earwig (right)-University of Minnesota Extension Service

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Pirate bugs are predacious and beneficial (also called minute pirate bugs). Size is approx 4 mm long so they are difficult to see. 

Adult pirate bug-photo Biocontrol Network (left), Pirate Bug doing his job-Green Coast Hydroponics (right)

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Garter Snakes (also known as grass snakes) are found worldwide expect Antarctica. There are many different species of garter snakes. 

Common garter snake (left)-University of Maryland, San Francisco garter snake (right)

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