Beneficial Insects and Why Organic Gardeners Love ThemMost of us look at insects and see something that needs to be squashed, sprayed, or drowned. However, some insects should be allowed to live. Some beneficial insects eat other harmful insects. Others, such as bees help with pollination or decomposition.
Whether an insect is good or bad is purely subjective. Based on your needs and preferences, you may find some insects helpful while others will find them unnecessary. Organic approach Every organic garden should have some beneficial insects for pest control. These small creatures eat other insects that are harmful to plants. Gardeners looking for an organic approach to eliminating aphids and mites often depend upon ladybugs. 
Parasitic wasps lay their eggs in the body of harmful insects, eventually killing them. Also, Praying Mantis hide among the leaves and wait for insects to eat. Some organic gardeners actually buy and import beneficial insects into their gardens. Because pesticides are harmful to the environment, and to people who breath or ingest them, these insects are the only way of controlling pests in their garden
Natural enemies Are you a person who thinks that releasing a few relatively harmless, beneficial insects into your garden is a good idea? Insects that are natural enemies to the ones that are eating your organic vegetables can be released at critical times during the season, called [inoculative release], or, by selection and placement of the plants you are growing to augment the natural enemies. A practice called habitat manipulation. Start with the simple and move on from there. The following ideas will get you started. Ladybugs Ladybugs and particularly the larvae of ladybugs are active in the northern hemisphere in May, June and July and will have a major beneficial effect in getting rid of a number of pests. You can kiss good-by to aphids, greenflies and blackfies, mites, scale insects and small caterpillars. 
Encourage the ladybugs to stick around by cultivating a patch of nettles somewhere close to your garden.Some hollow plant stems and other debri will also help, but frankly once they get established and have enough to eat they have no problem staying around.Learn to recognise the ladybug. They come in various coloured markings. The larvae are small and spidery and grow to about 17 mm long with a tapered segmented grey or black body with orange or yellow markings, and a big mouth - very useful! Ladybugs can be purchased, or, in the spring you can collect them and "save" them until needed. HoverfliesThere are well over 100 species of hoverflies,and the larvae feed on greenfly, consuming about 100 greenfly a day or about 1000 in it's lifetime. They also eat fruit tree spider mites and small caterpillars.
The adult hoverfly is something like a dark coloured bee or wasp and is easy to spot by it's darting and hovering flight pattern.The adult fly also feeds on nectar and pollen as part of it's egg production routine. The eggs are very small, about 1 mm,pale yellow white color and the fly deposits them close to the greenfly colonies. When the larvae appear they look a bit like bird droppings, (clever) legless without a distinct head, and about 8-17 mm in length. they can be semi-transparent, green, white, or black. Hoverflies can be encouraged by growing plants like, marigolds, phacelia, and maybe even poaches egg plants (Limnanthes douglasil) Goodbye, greenfly!! Dragonflies 
If you have done any fishing you know what a dragonfly looks like.This important and prolific preditor of the mosquito adult and mosquito larvae is very much a benefit to the organic gardener and should be encouraged. Adult dragonflies catch and eat adult mosquitoes in flight, and the larvae of dragonflies do what is necessary in the water. Bees and butterlies Not all beneficial insects are good for pest control. Some help to facilitate cross pollination. Bees and butterflies land on one plant to collect pollen, and when they are done move onto the next plant. Some of the pollen from the first plant stays in the second plant, pollinating it so it can produce more and stronger vegetables, fruit, or flowers.
Bees of course are seen, or used to be seen, where-ever you have abundant flowers. A beehive or two in the vacinity of your garden can be a big advantage to your growing plants. 
There are other preditors you might want to encourage and welcome to your garden, and they are not all insects. But some insects like lacewings, pirate bugs, rove and ground beetles, aphid midge, centipedes, predadory mites should be encourages.Larger style fauna like frogs, toads, lizards, hedgehogs, slow worms, and birds, are your friends, and should be encouraged to stay around. The balance of nature Also Cats, and dogs have some benfits, but they might upset the balance of nature. That's what it is all about - the balance of good against evil. The good, (beneficial), and the bad, the (vegetable eaters and destroyers). With all the harm pesticides and fertilizers are doing to the environment, not to mention to our children we need to be looking for alternatives. Beneficial bugs are natural, and if encouraged, will reproduce, restore the balance in your garden in favour of the good, and can help keep your garden healthy and producing more vegetables for you and your family.
See What's Killing the Bees More on the Plight of Honey Bees Your Organic Garden can help the Bees
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and protecting their plants. Many pest control companies sell insects for pest control.
In order to use beneficial insects for pollination purposes, you first have to attract them. There are specific plants that can be used to attract specific insects. Queen Anne’s lace, butterfly weeds, some herbs, marigolds, dandelions, and many other plants attract ladybugs. By incorporating these plants into your garden, you can ensure that these little insects will be by to help you with any issues you may have. Or, you can plant them nearby in a little garden of their own. 
