Insect-Eating Insects – The Unsung Heroes of Pest Control

Not all insects are on a mission to feed on your precious garden vegetables or bite you and your pets. Some are an effective form of natural pest control! Carnivorous, or entomophagous, insects eat other insects and help farmers, gardeners, and ecosystems keep harmful pest populations in check.

Get to know some insects that are predators and the ways they help manage pests.

7 Common Entomophagous Insects

The word “carnivorous” refers to animals that feed on other animals, while “entomophagous” is a more specific term that refers to animals that feed on insects.

Here are familiar predator bugs that eat other bugs:

1. Ladybugs

Ladybugs are beneficial insects that eat aphids, which are small, sap-sucking pests that can cause plants to turn yellow and die. One ladybug can eat up to 50 aphids a day and thousands in its lifetime. Other insects that ladybugs eat include fruit flies, mites, and scale bugs.

2. Praying mantises

Praying mantises feed on a large range of insects, including flies, crickets, grasshoppers, and caterpillars. They’ve even been known to eat frogs, lizards, and small birds!

3. Ground beetles

Ground beetles are typically nocturnal and eat bugs including slugs, caterpillars, ants, and maggots. Ground beetles are often found in agricultural fields where they patrol the soil.

4. Parasitic wasps

These tiny wasps lay eggs inside or on the bodies of other insects, such as caterpillars, aphids, and beetle larvae. Once the wasp larvae hatch, they feed on the host insect, ultimately killing it.

5. Lacewings

Lacewing larvae are predators of soft-bodied insects like aphids, mites, and mealybugs. The larvae have powerful jaws that allow them to bite and consume prey.

6. Spiders

Although not technically insects, spiders are efficient natural predators of insects. Some spiders spin webs to capture flying insects, while others, like wolf spiders, hunt for crickets, grasshoppers, ants, and beetles.

         Related Blog: Are Spiders in Your Home Good?

7. Dragonflies

As larvae, dragonflies hunt underwater for aquatic insects and mosquito larvae. In adulthood, dragonflies become aerial predators and eat adult mosquitoes, bees, flies, and moths.

Insects That Love to Eat Mosquitoes

Luckily, some of the most effective insect predators eat mosquitoes. Dragonflies, spiders, and damselflies – a smaller dragonfly-like insect – all eat mosquitoes. A single dragonfly can eat hundreds of mosquitoes in a day!

Related Blog: Attracting Dragonflies for Mosquito Control

But… Don’t Leave Your Natural Pest Management to Bugs Alone

Carnivorous bugs with a taste for other more troublesome insects are helpful. However, they can’t be 100% effective. While we wish that dragonflies and spiders could take care of every biting, invasive, or plant-feeding pest, we know that isn’t the case.

Your local Mosquito Squad^® can help, naturally, with natural pest control service. This service utilizes essential oils that mosquitoes don’t like to deter them from your outdoor space for up to 21 days!

Learn more about our natural professional pest management solution. Contact your local Squad^® today at (877) 332-2239 or request a quote online.