Let’s not beat around the bush and get right to the goodies!
I present to you the …
WE ARE ONE series : ep. 4 - Host Plants for Beneficial Insects
(Proceed with caution. This post will cause you to reflect on your relationship with the “creepy crawlies”)
“Beneficial Insects?! What do you mean there are bugs that can benefit me!? They are just here to terrorize me!”
“Hurry! Kill the BUG! OMG its so scary!”
“AAAAHHHHH! There was a BUG on my FACE!”
Geeeeezzz humanity (western culture in particular) … is this really what it has come to…?
People have become so disconnected with nature that those outburst have become a common reaction.
I mean, I get it. We have grown up in a culture that negatively associates with insects. We Identify bugs as “dirty” and “unsightly”. Without truly understanding these lifeforms and what they really do, it is so easy to get trapped into this way of thinking.
This is where I can potentially help.
These bugs are playing a role in the divine symphony of life, just like we are. Which brings me to our topic of discussion today.
Host Plants for Beneficial Insects.
What are the common problems found with growing food today?
One of them is pest. Well what exactly is a pest? The way I describe it, is a lifeform that eats what we eat. Since we tend to be selfish at times, we label these beings as pest and give efforts to destroying them. If that seems harsh to you, it's because it is harsh.
There is something crucial here that we are forgetting. We have forgotten how nature operates. Everything has balance in nature. There are constant energy outputs and energy inputs that flow in harmony.
The input of nuclear fusion in the sun’s core gives an output of radiant energy that is also the Input for plants. The plant takes the sun’s input and gives a output of foliage, flowers, fruits, nuts and seeds. Then the plant’s outputs are food for larger organism like insects and animals, which transforms into their waste outputs. That happens to be fertilizer inputs for the plants. All of these insects and animals have natural predators(hint hint). It is a constant cycle that maintains balance. Unless of course we humans mess things up.
As I mentioned above, there are natural predators for the insects we consider “pest”. This is one of the many functions that beneficial insects perform.
Instead of spraying the landscape with harmful chemical pesticides, we can attract a plethora of beneficial insects to do our dirty work.
How do we attract such awesome creatures?
We cultivate host plants that provide ideal outputs for certain beneficial insects.
Let's look at the relationship between the sunflower and the ladybug. The ladybug is attracted to the heavy pollen producing sunflower. This cute little insect needs two things to survive, pollen and pest(aphids, mites, scale). If we appropriately place these host plants in our garden, we can reap from our bug’s rewards.
Host plants provide many things such as pollen, nectar, foliage for larvae feed, and habitat for predatory insects.
Some of these plants include : buckwheat, coriander, fennel, golden Marguerite, lemon balm, penny royal, and many many more.
All of these plants attract specific types of beneficial insects. The Feverfew plant for example, only attracts the hover fly.
Some of these beneficial insects are : ladybugs, tachinid fly, minute pirate bug, hover fly, parasitic wasps, big-eyed bugs, and lacewing. Each one of the bugs performs functions that we can take advantage of.
Something that we should also keep in mind, is that in order to have a ecologically sound environment, we must live with the presence of pest. That cute little lady bug needs those pest to survive. If there are no pest to consume, the ladybug will leave in search for it’s meal. It is also wise to cultivate decoy plants or trap crops to serve as snack bars for our friendly insects. Having some pest is better than having no pest. You can only exterminate a pest for a short period of time, they will always keep coming back. During that short time your predators will abandon your garden, leaving you defenseless when the fast-reproducing pest rebuild their numbers.
These relationships found between plants and insects hold many benefits that we all can enjoy.
So please stop and reconsider your squeamish outlook on these amazing little creatures. There are many treasures that await you, if you choose to be a part of the bigger picture here. Let us observe and learn from our natural surroundings. The most sustainable systems out there are living systems.
