As winter still chills the bones, spring seed catalogs
are warming mailboxes
everywhere.

Mixed with offers of amazing azaleas and zippy zinnias
are more unusual items:
bugs. Good bugs. Earthworms, ladybugs and nematodes.

Why buy bugs from a catalog?

“People buying predators such as lady beetles are often
disappointed,” said
Beverly Sparks, a University of Georgia Extension Service
entomologist.

“They buy them and release them in their garden area,”
she said. “And when
they go back in 30 minutes the beetles are dispersed.”

The problem is not getting these beneficial creatures
into your garden. It’s
getting them to stay put.

“We recommend that people observe their garden and see
if they have the
insects there,” Sparks said. “Then preserve them. Don’t buy them
and bring them in.”

But the beneficial bug game is a real “Catch-22.”

“It’s a trick,” Sparks said. “They’re predators, so
insects have to be around or
the beneficial ones will leave.”

If you don’t have bad bugs, you probably won’t have good
bugs either.

If you have sprayed for insects using a lingering
insecticide, you will also kill
your beneficial insects.

Beneficial insects such as lady beetles are easy to
spot. Nematodes, on the other
hand, are much harder.

“There are plant-parasitic nematodes and insect-
parasitic nematodes,” Sparks
said. “You won’t necessarily see the nematodes themselves but
can see evidence of
them.”

If you closely examine bodies of dead insects found in
the soil, you may see the
tiny parasitic nematodes.

“One problem with buying nematodes to use in your garden
is that they attack
most soil-dwelling insects whether they’re beneficial bugs or
pests,” Sparks said.

You can test for an abundance of earthworms by digging
through the soil. You
should find either the worms themselves or the channels they
dig. If you have good
soil, you’ll have earthworms. If you don’t have good soil,
earthworms won’t stay even
if you put them there.

To keep your natural supply of beneficial insects,
remember that they need a
supply of pests to feed on.

“If they don’t have a ready food supply, lady beetles
will fly away,” Sparks
said. “Nematodes naturally occur in the soil and can’t move
great distances as lady
beetles do.”

If you have pests in your garden, the area will attract
beneficial insects
naturally. Bringing in the insects when the pests aren’t there
for the predators to feed
on won’t be much help.