Ground beetle
Hosts
Slugs, snails, cutworms, cabbage root maggots, grubs and insect pupae, and small caterpillars
Description
Eggs are normally laid singly in the soil. Larva is elongated and tapered toward the end,
worm-like in appearance and have a large headdirected forward. Pupa is brownish black, small and found in the soil. Adult ground beetles or Carabids are about 2- 6cm long, dark shiny brown to metallic black, blue, green, purple, or multi-colored. They vary in shapes,- from elongated to heavy-bodied, - tapered head end with threadlike antennae, and have a ringed wing cover. Their heads are usually smaller than their thorax. Both adults and larvae have strong pincher-like mandibles. They have prominent long legs, which make them fast moving insects. Most species are nocturnal and they hide during the
day in soil crevices, under rocks and stones, decaying logs, leaf litter, or composting materials. When disturbed or when other vertebrates prey upon them, they emit an odor or gas, as a type of defense mechanism, preventing them from being eaten by other predators. Ground beetles live on or
below the ground, hence the name. Development from the egg to the adult stage takes about a year, although adults may live 2 to 3 years or longer.
Conservation
1. Practice mulching in some sections of your field to provide a habitat for the ground beetles.
2. Provide permanent beds and perennial plantings to protect population.
3. Plant white clover and/or amaranth as ground covers.
Hoverfly
Hosts
Aphids, thrips, psyllids, scale insects, small caterpillars, and larvae of Heliotes
Description
Eggs are tiny, about 1mm in size, ovateshaped, and glistening white. These are found laid
singly and close to the developing aphid colony in the leaves, shoots, or stems of the plants. They
hatch within 2-3 days.
The larvae, known as Syrphids, are legless slug like maggots, about 1-13mm in length depending on their larval stages. They usually have a mottled gray, beige, or light green color. They lift their pointed heads to look for preys. Once preys are located, their mouthparts suck out the contents of the preys. Larvae are frequently found feeding on aphids in the sheltered and curled portion of leaves. They blend well with their habitat and therefore they must be looked for closely to locate them. Pupae are teardrops shaped and are found in the soil surface or in the plant's foliage. Adult hoverflies are true flies with only two wings instead of four which most insects have.
Adults are large and beautiful insects about 13 mm long. They have a dark head, a dark thorax, and a banded yellow and black abdomen. They closely resemble bees or wasps rather than flies. Their habit of hovering like humming birds gave them the names hoverflies or flower flies. They feed on
pollen, nectar, and honeydew. They are goodpollinators.
Conservation
Hoverflies are attracted to all flowering plants but even more so to small-flowered herbs like wild
mustard, coriander, dill, lupines, sunflower, and fennel. It is advisable to have multiple crops as
adults basically feed on pollen and nectar and it is advisable to allow flowering weeds such as wild
carrot and yarrow to grow between crop plants. Hoverflies' larvae are most noticeable in the latter
half of the growing season when aphids are established.
Lacewing
Hosts
Aphids, leafminer, mealybugs, thrips, whitefly,armyworms, bollworms, cabbage worm, codling
moths, corn borer, cutworm, DBM, fruitworm,
leafhopper nymphs and eggs, potato beetle, scale
insects, spider mites, and caterpillars of most pest
moths. If given the chance, they can also prey on
adult pests.
Description
underside of leaves. Each egg is attached to the topof a hair-like filament. Eggs are pale green in color. Eggs are found on slender stalks or on the
Larvae are known as aphid lions. Newly hatched, they are grayish-brown in color. Upon emerging, larvae immediately look for food. They grow to about 1 cm in length. They attack their prey by taking them with their large sucking jaws and injecting paralyzing poison, and then sucking out the body fluids of the pest. A larva can eat 200 or more pests or pest eggs a week. An older larva can consume 30-50 aphids per day. It can consume more than 400 aphids during its development. The larvae resemble alligators with pincers like jaw. However, they become cannibalistic if no other prey is available. They feed for 3 to 4 weeks and molt three times before pupation. They cover their bodies with prey debris.
Pupae are cocoons with silken threads. These are found in cracks and crevices. The pupal stage lasts for approximately 5 days.
Adults are green to yellowish-green with four, delicate transparent wings that have many veins and cross veins. Adults are about 18 mm long, with long hair-like antennae and red-gold eyes. Each adult female may deposit more than 100 eggs. Many species of adult lacewings do not prey on pests. They feed on nectar, pollen, and honeydew. An adult will live for about four to six weeks depending on the climatic conditions.
of pollen and nectar for adults. Provide source of water during dry season.
Conservation
Flowering plants such as dill, cosmos, sunflower, carrots, and dandelions are good sourceof pollen and nectar for adults. Provide source of water during dry season.
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