Learn About Organic Farming   >  Bugs, Bugs, Bugs on the Farm!

Let's Learn About Organic Farming

Bugs, Bugs, Bugs on the Farm!

Thousands and thousands of insects live on a farm. Depending on the insect, they can be helpful or harmful to the farm and its crops. The "good bugs" that help fight pests that eat crops are called "beneficial insects."

Other important insects help carry pollen from flower to flower as they fly around; this process, called "pollination," is required for plants to be able to reproduce and make fruits, vegetables, and seeds.

Instead of using chemical pesticides, one way organic farmers control pests is to buy or raise beneficial insects and release them into the fields. Beneficial insects work like hired farmhands; they do an excellent job of keeping crops healthy and pest-free. At Earthbound Farm, we encourage good bugs to live on our farm by growing the kinds of plants around our fields that we know beneficials especially like — these are called "host crops."

These are some of our favorite insects:

Ladybugs eat aphids, scales, and mealybugs — three huge problems for farmers, because they can ruin our plants if they get a foothold (called an "infestation"). One adult ladybug can eat as many as 5,000 aphids!

Lacewings eat aphids, mealybugs, thrips, and caterpillar eggs. Lacewings have such big appetites that some people call them "garbage disposal" bugs.

Hoverflies are voracious eaters who can eat aphids that are twice their size.

Trichogramma is a wasp that likes to dine on the eggs of two bad bugs: corn borers and cabbage loopers.

Honeybees help to pollinate our crops' flowers as they gather their food. Many farmers keep beehives on their farms to ensure the pollination of their crops. Butterflies, hummingbirds and some types of wasps also help with pollination as they fly from flower to flower.

 

NEXT: The Miracle of Plants: Smart Seeds