Photo courtesy of kd_arvin at Flickr.com.

What’s a voracious carnivore when it’s little, and a peaceful nectar-drinker later in life? Your average parasitic wasp, that’s who.

Most are absolutely no danger to humans — in fact, they look more like flies than wasps — but they lay their eggs in prey species and the larvae eventually eat their way out, killing their hosts. This may seem gruesome, but it’s a very effective, all-natural method of insect control.

To attract parasitic wasps, plant a border of small-flowered herbs around your flowerbeds; the wasps are usually so small that they can literally drown in a large flower. Dill, fennel, parsley, cilantro, and sweet alyssum are especially good at attracting parasitic wasps.

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This entry was posted on Monday, February 25th, 2008 at 5:09 am and is filed under Gardening Tips. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.