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Gardener’s Helper
Gardener’s Helper
Roll Call in the Garden
BY MONIQUE PARÉ
Bugs fascinate me. When I am out
admiring the flowers in my garden,
my attention always shifts to these
other life forms so important in our
gardens. An army of these tiny creatures
calls our gardens home, and
most of them are friends rather than
foes.
I watch a ladybug as she explores
a plant, patiently searching for a
potential meal. When she finds a
promising site, she might lay a cluster
of eggs underneath the leaves. A few
days later, I may be lucky enough to
see her larvae, colourful alligator-like
bugs that are likely to be found feeding
on aphids. Aphids are unwelcome
pests that suck the sap from plants
and excrete honeydew, a sticky substance
that drops onto the leaves
underneath where they feed. Ants
often guard aphid colonies to harvest
that honeydew, and I have seen them
successfully chasing predators away
from their “aphid farm.”
Hover flies, also called flower or
syrphid flies, are regulars around
flowers and feed on nectar. There are
many species, but the ones I see most
often are quite small and, if looked at
quickly, could be mistaken for small
wasps or bees. Many of these friendly
flies are very good at mimicking wasps
to scare off potential attackers, but
they are harmless to humans. They
spend their time hovering among the
flowers and laying eggs wherever they
find aphids so the larvae will find
food as soon as they emerge. Now
that I can recognize them, I often
notice these larvae — small, greenish
maggots that taper towards the head.
They also consume many other small
insects. The larger hover flies look
like a cross between a fly and a bee,
but they have the same habits as the
smaller types.
Many species of wasps also frequent
the garden. Most of these are
beneficial or at least neutral. Every so
often, I will see a spectacular
Ichneumon wasp. The female has a
very long ovipositor (egg-laying
appendage) extending well behind
her slender body. I know that she is
looking for a caterpillar or similar
continues on page 36
Ottawa Page 34 Due West/Due East Magazine • Summer 2008