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Good article!! IPM is something we should all try to understand and practice (I'm getting better at it as I go along, LOL), and you laid out the basics very clearly. Thank you!
I've been wondering about the introduction of predatory insects like ladybugs since coming across this at the NWF site (in the info about certifying your yard as a wildlife habitat, under organic gardening tips), "Do not introduce ladybugs or other predator bugs. Doing this properly requires a keen knowledge of predator/prey relationships and most of the insects you purchase are non-native." They do promote encouraging the natural occurrence of predator bugs. They're also in favor of adding beneficial nematodes, which I would think are also not necessarily native.
(The NWF page on organic tips actually addresses a lot of the principles of IPM that Paul mentioned.. if you want to check it out, it's at http://www.nwf.org/backyard/organic.cfm)
I haven't introduced any ladybugs, because I seem to have plenty of them (along with wheelbugs and assassin bugs). What do you think? Could we be doing more harm than good by buying those ladybugs at the local garden store?
As you said, biological controls are an important part of IPM (bless those robins who have been gobbling up my Japanese beetles this year!). But I thought this was an interesting additional consideration. :-)
I didn't have much luck with my mantis egg cases this year, probably due to the cold, wet spring we had here in Cleveland, OH. In past years, I have put out preying mantis egg cases and have had at least two in each flower bed. They work well at controlling all kinds of nasty bugs as they will eat anything that crosses their path. You can order them online from a number of places. Check them out.
Once you have them, you shouldn't have to put out new egg cases each year... Do you cut off and get rid of all the dead/dormant stems in your flower garden over the winter? I often see mantis egg cases on stiff, upright dead stems... sometimes it pays to be a messy gardener (I call it a "cottage garden" LOL).
Although I'm not totally organic out there, I limit spraying etc. as much as possible... and over the years my gardens have developed a pretty good population of "helpful" bugs.
I built a new house and the very next spring when I started landscaping I had mantises everywhere. That has been five years ago, and I still have plenty. In the fall the big females are everywhere. I don't know how I got so lucky. Maybe God is smiling down on us in Kentucky since he blighty us with a plague of Japanese beetles for so long.
Now who ever imported these little pale -tan -green lady bugs for pecan tree aphids, I'd like to tell them I think it was a mistake! Not that they bother anything, but they like to invade the house and just too many of them.
