There are at least six important families of fly parasites and 10 families of important wasplike parasites. In just one family of parasitic wasps, the ichneumons, more than 3,100 species have been identified in North America. Most ichneumon species are specialized to parasitize only one or a few host insect species. Insect parasites are very susceptible to insecticides, and some may also be killed by other pesticides, such as fungicides and herbicides. The final groups of natural enemies are the predators.
Predators usually feed on insects smaller than themselves, ingesting one or more for a single meal.
In general, they are very active insects that seek out other insects to feed on. Some of the more important families of predators are ground beetles, tiger beetles, ladybird beetles, social wasps, lacewings, some stinkbugs, assassin bugs, nabid bugs, robber flies, syrphid flies and some midge flies. A tremendous number of species of predaceous insects exist. For example, more than 2,500 species of ground beetles live in our area. Like parasites, predaceous insects are susceptible to insecticides.