Predators - insects

beneficials - natural enemies of pests

Pirate bug (Orius insidiosus) feeding on white fly nymphs
Author: Jack Dykinga
Source: Wikimedia Commons

Insect predators

Many groups of insects include beneficial species which prey on pest insects. They are actively used for biological control or should be preserved as natural enemies.

The following classes and groups are currently included in the system:

• Coleoptera (beetles)
• Dermaptera (earwigs)
• Diptera (flies)
• Formicidae (ants)
• Heteroptera (bugs)
• Hymenoptera (predatory wasps)

• Lepidoptera (moths)
• Mantodea (praying mantises)
• Neuroptera (lacewings)
• Orthoptera (crickets/predatory grasshoppers)
• Thysanoptera (predatory thrips)