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Beneficial insects: the bugs you want in your garden

Many insects protect your plants by eating pests or pollinating flowers. Recognising them stops you from removing your best helpers.

Pollinators

Bees, butterflies, hoverflies and some beetles carry pollen from flower to flower, helping fruit and vegetables grow.

Not sure what bug you found?

Take a photo and Insect Scanner tells you its name, whether it is dangerous and what to do. Your first scans are free.

📷 Identify a bug from a photo

Pest hunters

Ladybugs and their spiky larvae eat aphids. Praying mantises catch many garden insects. Dragonflies eat mosquitoes. Ground beetles hunt slugs and caterpillars at night.

How to attract them

Grow a mix of flowering plants that bloom at different times.
Plant native species, such as milkweed for monarch butterflies.
Leave a small wild corner with leaves and logs.
Provide shallow water with stones to land on.
Avoid broad pesticides that kill helpful insects too.

Frequently asked questions

Are ladybug larvae pests?

No. The spiky dark larvae eat even more aphids than the adults.

Do dragonflies help with mosquitoes?

Yes. Both adult dragonflies and their young eat large numbers of mosquitoes.