|
|
Post by MikeH on Jul 7, 2013 18:29:17 GMT -5
A search for predatory insect yields just one hit - alanbishop.proboards.com/post/23646. With what we're trying to achieve in the orchard, we're interested in planting to attract these kinds of insects. |
|
|
|
Post by steev on Jul 7, 2013 23:52:02 GMT -5
Given that your desired insects are all predatory carnivores (insectivores, yeah, yeah), you just need to plant the plants most attractive to their preferred prey. Kind of sounds like "one step forward, two steps back".
|
|
|
|
Post by MikeH on Jul 8, 2013 0:30:13 GMT -5
Got lots of those. It's been a field day for aphids this year - black one, grey ones, light green ones on the favas, climbing honeysuckle, cherries, Russian almond, plum rootstock, etc, etc, etc.
It seems, though, that the adults of the wasp and fly families require nectar and pollen sources in order to reproduce the immature larval stages that parasitize or prey on insect pests.
|
|
|
|
Post by richardw on Jul 8, 2013 0:46:25 GMT -5
White, subterranean and red clovers are in my view the best predatory feeders while been a nitrogen fixer,its the fact that they flower over a long period that i like.
|
|
|
|
Post by steev on Jul 8, 2013 1:21:22 GMT -5
I remember when I was working swing shift one semester, so that I got off work at 1AM, having the 2AM slot at the University parasitic wasp lab counting wasps hatched out from the parasitized eggs since the 1AM slot. Fun times; I'd fall asleep at the 'scope these nights, like as not.
|
|
|
|
Post by ottawagardener on Jul 8, 2013 8:52:39 GMT -5
Plants with small flowers. I attended a lecture on this at the Eco Farm Day. Essentially it was apiaceae, asters, fabaceae and full season of bloom.
|
|
|
|
Post by oxbowfarm on Jul 8, 2013 15:21:41 GMT -5
Golden Marguerite Anthemis tinctoria.
|
|
