Good Bugs and Bad Bugs
Nature gives farmers good things and bad things. Bugs go in both these categories. Bad bugs can kill, eat, and spread diseases throughout plants. On the other hand good bugs help farmers in three ways. First, they eat bad bugs. Second, bees and other bugs pollinate plants. They do this when they drink. For example, when bees drink nectar from flowers they unknowingly fly off with pollen sticking to them. When the bees pause to drink at another flower, the pollen rubs off them and is replaced by
different pollen. The cycle repeats again and again so most flowers are pollinated. Third, they make the soil healthier. For example, earth worms’ favorite food is earth. When they tunnel through the ground they eat earth on the way. After they digest all the soil they give it back to the ground. But when the worm puts soil back in the ground a lot of new nutrients go into the ground with the soil.
But how do the farmers get good bugs to come into their garden? Farmers have solved this problem. They now know which plants attract good bugs. They plant these plants around their crops so the good bugs will come.
Now I’m going to tell you a bit about different kinds of good bugs and bad bugs.
Good Bugs
Lady Bugs: Lady bugs help farmers by eating aphids and mealy bugs. Sometimes lady bug larva is mistaken for pests.
Centipedes: Centipedes are a light brown color. Their meals contain small garden pests. Centipedes are sometimes mistaken for millipedes.
Wasps: Wasps like to eat green flies and other insects. Sometimes gardeners put wasps in their garden to eat annoying caterpillars.
Lace Wings: Lace wings eat caterpillar eggs, mealy bugs, and aphids. Sometimes people call them garbage disposal bugs.
Hoverflies: Hoverflies are very small. But hoverflies can eat things like aphids twice their size. Sometimes people think they are thick-headed flies.
Pollinating Bugs: Pollinating bugs are generally a variety of bees and butterflies. One thing that is the same about pollinating bugs is they all drink nectar.
Bad Bugs
Aphids: Aphids are small bugs that suck plant juices from unfolding leaves and seedlings. The two most common kinds are the green peach aphid and the potato aphid.
Mealy Bugs: Mealy bugs usually feast on the top leaves of a plant. They look like tiny whitish-pink cotton balls. Most are covered in a waxy substance.
Snails and Slugs: Snails and slugs are very much the same. They both like to live in wet or moist areas. They like to eat lettuce and other water filled plants.
References
Organic Kids: Learn about Organic Farming. http://www.ebfarm.com/Kids/Farming_OrganicDefinition.aspx