Today many gardeners are unknowingly killing or destroying the natural habitats of garden allies such as black snakes, garden spiders, toads, praying mantis, ladybugs, lacewing flies and parasitic wasp. Stocking your garden with beneficial insects is the most natural way to protect your plants and insure a healthy harvest. Eggs for the praying mantis are sold at most garden supply stores. These insects pray on several different garden pest such as larvea and most caterpillar forms. Ladybugs released in the garden will eat aphids, mites, scale insects and more.
Toads are well known insect eliminators.
They can be encouraged by placing an inverted flower pot in the garden and a small water supply. Like the toad, birds such as the purple martin will happily rid you of many garden pest. A special birdhouse for these beneficial predators near your garden will attract their attention. The trichogramma wasp is well known for laying eggs inside the eggs of many species of caterpillar so the wasp larvae can feed on and destroy the caterpillar eggs. Biological forms of insect control can also be beneficial to your garden.