Predator Insects

[pedidiva]

Hi~~~

Has anyone used predator insects in their greenhouse/growing area? I'm thining of getting some lacewings. They eat mealy bigs, white flies, & some other thing that I can't remember that atacks orchids.

I usually get ladybugs/praying mantis nest, too. I leave the spiders alone.

In the local conservatory--they use a lot of predator insects/arachnids. I was wondering if any one had tried them.

Pedi

[Vanda lover]

I haven't, but when we lived in Ontario, some people got carried away with buying ladybugs and they came in to houses for the winter in huge numbers. They were eating the baby scale, though they couldn't eat adults, and I watched them walking along the back of the couch , I believe they were eating large numbers of dust mites. The draw back was that there were hundreds of ladybugs, and the nip you.

[pedidiva]

I have a friend who has a house in Georgia. Apparently the University was doing a big study on ladybugs & now the town is in some sort of migration pattern. I guess yearly, the lady bugs come & literally invade the house.

[Daethen]

It is the japanese beetles that bite. We are overrun here.

[Vanda lover]

They are an oriental ladybug, and they have all but starved out our native ones. The ones known as japanese beatles are tiny black ones with cream spots, and they do crop damage.

[Daethen]

My mistake, but I agree that it is hard to find the native ladybugs anymore.

[Junebug]

Lace Wings are good to have around. I've never seen the adults in my shadehouse but on occassion I see their eggs on a cattleya leaf. Paper Wasps are another predatory insect that I'm familiar with. I see them buzzing around the chids all the time during the warmer months and they've never tried to sting me. There's some type of little spider that lives among my chids too. It hides in tiny webs that it builds at the base of leaves. I don't know what those spiders are eating but they don't damage the chids, so I leave them alone. Frogs and lizards are also great to have around. I welcome snakes too because they control rodent populations.

Weevils are the only insects I'm having a problem controlling. I haven't discovered any natural enemies for the adults. The lizards, frogs, and birds won't eat them because they have hard exoskeletons and thorny protrusions on their legs. They seem to be immune to any and all insecticides too. The best way to control them is by killing them beneath the soil during their grub stage, but I haven't had much luck doing that either.

[Vanda lover]

If only more people realized how useful these creatures are! So many people hate them and exterminate them, not realizing that every creature is important in it's own way. I have a friend who calls an exterminater if she sees a spider in here house.

[daveh_sf]

Carnivorous plants are a good way to control flying insects in a greenhouse. I've had a few Sundews (Drosera) and Pitcher Plants (Sarracenia) in my greenhouse for a couple years, and they do a great job.

[Paul Mc]

What are the light requirements for carnivorous plants, and do they have to eat to remain alive?