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Predators – insects that catch and eat other insects and bugs

Big-eyed Bug, courtesy Bradley Higbee, Paramount Farming, www.insectimages.org

Minute Pirate Bug – 2-3mm with triangular head. Preys on aphids, thrip, spider mites and insect eggs.

Assassin Bug - long, slender body, front legs hold prey

Damsel Bugs – fast moving and aggressive, dine on aphids, mites, caterpillars, thrips. Larval stage feeds with adult.

Syrphid Flies – Includes hover flies which have coloration mimicking a bee; larvae feed on aphids by piercing their bodies and sucking the fluids. Also feeds on scales and caterpillars. Can eat sixty aphids each day.

Ladybugs – larvae (and adults) feed on aphids, mealy bugs, soft scales and spider mites

Big-eyed Bugs – (pictured above) Distinctive bulging eyes. Feeds on caterpillars, lygus eggs, spider mites, flea beetles and others

Lacewing larva dines on whitefly nymphs. Photo by Jack Dykinga @ USDA-ARS

Lacewings – larvae (pictured right) voraciously devour aphids, scales, mealybugs, thirps, leafhoppers, mites and insect eggs and larva. They are shaped like tiny alligators and can consume 100 or more pests a day.

Ground beetles – feeds on aphids, snails, bark beetle larvae

Dragonflies – captures prey on the wing

Dwarf Spiders (Arachnid) - captures prey on the ground

Carolina Mantid - Clemson University - USDA Cooperative Extension Slide Series

Praying Mantis – (pictured left) captures prey wherever it can

Spined Soldier Bug – both adult and nymph stage are beneficially predacious

Harvestmen – generalist, consumes variety

Earwigs - generalist

Parasitoids – insects that lay eggs in, on or around other insects so that the larva that hatches will have the host to feed on.

Parasitoid wasps (order Hymenoptera incl. Ichneumonidae, Braconidae): When you think of wasps, you may think of large, aggressive stinging insects. But there are more than 1,500 species of stingless wasps in North America, most no bigger than a grain of rice. These valuable parasitic wasps lay eggs near, or deposited in the body of living host such as aphids or caterpillars. Some species, such as the braconid wasp, have multiple hosts including caterpillars, flies, woodboring beetles, weevils, leafminers, true bugs and ants. Scoliid wasps are larger parasitic wasps preying mainly green June and Japanese beetle grub.

Tachinid flies – Wait! Don't swat that housefly you see on your fencepost! It may be the similar-looking tachinid fly…one of the most effective pest control organisms in your yard. This hairy critter lays eggs near or on the bodies of caterpillars. When the eggs hatch, the little maggots burrow their way into the body of the caterpillar and begin feeding on internal organs. When the larva emerges from the now dead host to complete its cycle, a major threat to your herbaceous plants is eliminated.