Insectary plants are those that attract insects. As such, beneficial insectary plants are intentionally introduced into an

ecosystem An ecosystem (or ecological system) consists of all the organisms and the physical environment with which they interact. These biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and energy flows. Energy enters the syste ...

to increase pollen and nectar resources required by the natural enemies of the harmful or unwanted insects

pests PESTS was an anonymous American activist group formed in 1986 to critique racism, tokenism, and exclusion in the art world. PESTS produced newsletters, posters, and other print material highlighting examples of discrimination in gallery represent ...

. Beyond an effective natural control of pests, the

beneficial insect Beneficial insects (sometimes called beneficial bugs) are any of a number of species of insects that perform valued services like pollination and pest control. The concept of ''beneficial'' is subjective and only arises in light of desired outcome ...

s also assist in

pollination Pollination is the transfer of pollen from an anther of a plant to the stigma of a plant, later enabling fertilisation and the production of seeds, most often by an animal or by wind. Pollinating agents can be animals such as insects, birds ...

. The "friendly insects" include ladybeetles, bees,

ground beetle Ground beetles are a large, cosmopolitan distribution, cosmopolitan family (biology), family of beetles, the Carabidae, with more than 40,000 species worldwide, around 2,000 of which are found in North America and 2,700 in Europe. As of 2015, it i ...

hoverflies Hover flies, also called flower flies or syrphid flies, make up the insect family Syrphidae. As their common name suggests, they are often seen hovering or nectaring at flowers; the adults of many species feed mainly on nectar and pollen, while ...

, and

parasitic wasp Parasitoid wasps are a large group of hymenopteran superfamilies, with all but the wood wasps (Orussoidea) being in the wasp-waisted Apocrita. As parasitoids, they lay their eggs on or in the bodies of other arthropods, sooner or later causin ...

s. Other animals that are frequently considered beneficial include

lizard Lizards are a widespread group of squamate reptiles, with over 7,000 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica, as well as most oceanic island chains. The group is paraphyletic since it excludes the snakes and Amphisbaenia alt ...

spider Spiders ( order Araneae) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight legs, chelicerae with fangs generally able to inject venom, and spinnerets that extrude silk. They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species ...

toad Toad is a common name for certain frogs, especially of the family Bufonidae, that are characterized by dry, leathery skin, short legs, and large bumps covering the parotoid glands. A distinction between frogs and toads is not made in scientif ...

s, and

hummingbirds Hummingbirds are birds native to the Americas and comprise the biological family Trochilidae. With about 361 species and 113 genera, they occur from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego, but the vast majority of the species are found in the tropics arou ...

. Beneficial insects are as much as ten times more abundant in the insectary plantings area. Mortality of

scale insect Scale insects are small insects of the order Hemiptera, suborder Sternorrhyncha. Of dramatically variable appearance and extreme sexual dimorphism, they comprise the infraorder Coccomorpha which is considered a more convenient grouping than the ...

s (caused by natural enemies) can be double with insectary plantings. In addition, a diversity of insectary plants can increase the population of beneficial insects such that these levels can be sustained even when the insectary plants are removed or die off. For maximum benefit in the garden, insectary plants can be grown alongside desired garden plants that do not have this benefit. The insects attracted to the insectary plants will also help the other nearby garden plants. Many members of the family

Apiaceae Apiaceae or Umbelliferae is a family of mostly aromatic flowering plants named after the type genus ''Apium'' and commonly known as the celery, carrot or parsley family, or simply as umbellifers. It is the 16th-largest family of flowering plants ...

(formerly known as Umbelliferae) are excellent insectary plants.

Fennel Fennel (''Foeniculum vulgare'') is a flowering plant species in the carrot family. It is a hardy, perennial herb with yellow flowers and feathery leaves. It is indigenous to the shores of the Mediterranean but has become widely naturalized ...

angelica ''Angelica'' is a genus of about 60 species of tall biennial and perennial herbs in the family Apiaceae, native to temperate and subarctic regions of the Northern Hemisphere, reaching as far north as Iceland, Lapland, and Greenland. They grow t ...

coriander Coriander (;

(cilantro),

dill Dill (''Anethum graveolens'') is an annual herb in the celery family Apiaceae. It is the only species in the genus ''Anethum''. Dill is grown widely in Eurasia, where its leaves and seeds are used as a herb or spice for flavouring food. Growth ...

, and

wild carrot ''Daucus carota'', whose common names include wild carrot, European wild carrot, bird's nest, bishop's lace, and Queen Anne's lace (North America), is a flowering plant in the family Apiaceae. It is native to temperate regions of the Old World ...

all provide in great number the tiny flowers required by parasitic wasps. Various

clovers Clover or trefoil are common names for plants of the genus ''Trifolium'' (from Latin ''tres'' 'three' + ''folium'' 'leaf'), consisting of about 300 species of flowering plants in the legume or pea family Fabaceae originating in Europe. The genus ...

yarrow ''Achillea millefolium'', commonly known as yarrow () or common yarrow, is a flowering plant in the family Asteraceae. Other common names include old man's pepper, devil's nettle, sanguinary, milfoil, soldier's woundwort, and thousand seal. The ...

, and

rue ''Ruta graveolens'', commonly known as rue, common rue or herb-of-grace, is a species of ''Ruta'' grown as an ornamental plant and herb. It is native to the Balkan Peninsula. It is grown throughout the world in gardens, especially for its bluis ...

also attract parasitic and predatory insects. Low-growing plants, such as

thyme Thyme () is the herb (dried aerial parts) of some members of the genus ''Thymus'' of aromatic perennial evergreen herbs in the mint family Lamiaceae. Thymes are relatives of the oregano genus ''Origanum'', with both plants being mostly indigenou ...

rosemary ''Salvia rosmarinus'' (), commonly known as rosemary, is a shrub with fragrant, evergreen, needle-like leaves and white, pink, purple, or blue flowers, native plant, native to the Mediterranean Region, Mediterranean region. Until 2017, it was kn ...

, or

mint MiNT is Now TOS (MiNT) is a free software alternative operating system kernel for the Atari ST system and its successors. It is a multi-tasking alternative to TOS and MagiC. Together with the free system components fVDI device drivers, XaA ...

, provide shelter for

ground beetles Ground beetles are a large, cosmopolitan family of beetles, the Carabidae, with more than 40,000 species worldwide, around 2,000 of which are found in North America and 2,700 in Europe. As of 2015, it is one of the 10 most species-rich animal fam ...

and other beneficial insects. Composite flowers ( daisy and

chamomile Chamomile (American English) or camomile (British English; see spelling differences) ( or ) is the common name for several plants of the family Asteraceae. Two of the species, ''Matricaria recutita'' and ''Anthemis nobilis'', are commonly us ...

) and mints (

spearmint Spearmint, also known as garden mint, common mint, lamb mint and mackerel mint, is a species of mint, ''Mentha spicata'' (, native to Europe and southern temperate Asia, extending from Ireland in the west to southern China in the east. It is nat ...

peppermint Peppermint (''Mentha'' × ''piperita'') is a hybrid species of mint, a cross between watermint and spearmint. Indigenous to Europe and the Middle East, the plant is now widely spread and cultivated in many regions of the world.Euro+Med Plantbas ...

, or

catnip ''Nepeta cataria'', commonly known as catnip, catswort, catwort, and catmint, is a species of the genus ''Nepeta'' in the family Lamiaceae, native to southern and eastern Europe, the Middle East, Central Asia, and parts of China. It is widely n ...

) will attract predatory wasps, hoverflies, and robber flies. The

wasps A wasp is any insect of the narrow-waisted suborder Apocrita of the order Hymenoptera which is neither a bee nor an ant; this excludes the broad-waisted sawflies (Symphyta), which look somewhat like wasps, but are in a separate suborder. T ...

will catch

caterpillars Caterpillars ( ) are the larval stage of members of the order Lepidoptera (the insect order comprising butterflies and moths). As with most common names, the application of the word is arbitrary, since the larvae of sawflies (suborder Symph ...

and grubs to feed their young, while the predatory and parasitic flies attack many kinds of insects, including leaf hoppers and caterpillars. Other insectary plants include:

mustard plant The mustard plant is any one of several plant species in the genera ''Brassica'' and ''Sinapis'' in the family Brassicaceae (the mustard family). Mustard seed is used as a spice. Grinding and mixing the seeds with water, vinegar, or other liqui ...

s such as ''

Brassica juncea ''Brassica juncea'', commonly brown mustard, Chinese mustard, Indian mustard, leaf mustard, Oriental mustard and vegetable mustard, is a species of mustard plant. Cultivar ''Brassica juncea'' cultivars can be divided into four major subgroup ...

'', ''

Phacelia tanacetifolia ''Phacelia tanacetifolia'' is a species of flowering plant in the borage family Boraginaceae, known by the common names lacy phacelia, blue tansy or purple tansy. Etymology ''Phacelia'' is derived from Greek and means 'bundle', in reference to t ...

'',

buckwheat Buckwheat (''Fagopyrum esculentum''), or common buckwheat, is a flowering plant in the knotweed family Polygonaceae cultivated for its grain-like seeds and as a cover crop. The name "buckwheat" is used for several other species, such as '' Fago ...

(''Fagopyrum esculentum''), marigold (''

Tagetes patula ''Tagetes patula'', the French marigold, is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae, native to Mexico and Guatemala with several naturalised populations in many other countries. It is widely cultivated as an easily grown bedding ...

''),

elderberry ''Sambucus'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Adoxaceae. The various species are commonly called elder or elderberry. The genus was formerly placed in the honeysuckle family, Caprifoliaceae, but was reclassified as Adoxaceae due to ge ...

, Korean licorice mint (''

Agastache rugosa ''Agastache rugosa'' also known as wrinkled giant hyssop, purple giant hyssop, Indian mint, blue licorice, huo xiang (藿香), and Chinese patchouli, is an aromatic herb in the mint family, native to East Asia (China, Japan, Korea, Russian Pri ...

''),

blackberry The blackberry is an edible fruit produced by many species in the genus ''Rubus'' in the family Rosaceae, hybrids among these species within the subgenus ''Rubus'', and hybrids between the subgenera ''Rubus'' and ''Idaeobatus''. The taxonomy of ...

, ''

Convolvulus ''Convolvulus'' is a genus of about 200 to 250''Convolvulus''.
Flora of China.

'', ''

Crataegus ''Crataegus'' (), commonly called hawthorn, quickthorn, thornapple, Voss, E. G. 1985. ''Michigan Flora: A guide to the identification and occurrence of the native and naturalized seed-plants of the state. Part II: Dicots (Saururaceae–Cornacea ...

'', ''Anthriscus sylvestris, Chrysanthemum segetum, Scrophularia, Rosa canina, Hedera helix, Centaurea cyanus, Phacelia tanacetifolia, Escholzia californica, Prunus spinosa, Lobularia maritima''.

References

{{reflist

External links

Enhancing Biological Control with Beneficial Insectary Plants
- July 1998 - description

See: tables * http://eartheasy.com/grow_garden_insectary.htm See: tables * http://www.agroecology.org/cases/insectaryplants.htm case study

Video: Efficient Intercropping with Sweet Alyssum for Aphid Control in Lettuce
Insect ecology Plant ecology

See also

References

External links