Techniques For Attracting The Good Bugs

Just as yardeners attract song birds to their property with bird houses, bird baths, and bird feeders, similar steps can be taken to attract beneficial insects; steps that are easy and fun especially for children.


In many cases, you will see the good guys as you walk around your yard or sit on a patio chair enjoying a cool glass of iced tea. Butterflies, honey bees, dragon flies, and many of the good sized flying critters are fun additions to any view of any yard.

The ground bugs are a bit more difficult to spot because many of them come out only at night and they usually prefer to stay hidden so their own predators, the song birds, cannot easily find them.


A great project for a child in primary school is to set up some dead fall traps around the yard to see what your ground beetle population looks like. Simply sink a foam coffee cup down flush with the soil and cover it loosely with some grass. Place these traps all over; a few in the lawn, a few in the flower beds and a few on the other side of the garage where you hide all that unsightly equipment.

Check the traps each morning first thing, and you will be surprised at the number of different species of bug or beetle you will capture. Of course, after the children have had a chance to take a look, you should return these beneficial creatures back down on the ground so they can get on with their good works.