Anyone who grows honeysuckle knows the struggle: aphids.
“At least if they attack the honeysuckle, they will stay off the (roses, lupines, elderberries).”
“I will never grow honeysuckle again.”
That last statement was from other gardeners. Me, I like my honeysuckle. But I have tried everything: Neem oil, scented water sprays, gentle hosing off, lacewings and ladybugs purchased from the store… EVERYTHING.
Or so I thought.
That all changed when evening was young and a mass of insects swirled in the air over and around the honeysuckle. A soldier beetle hatch (Pacificanthia).
I’ve seen them around, but never en masse like this, and I have never really paid much attention to them: friend or foe?
Turns out, they are a gardener’s best friend, probably more than lacewings or lady beetles purchased from a store. Soldier beetle adults are voracious and they LOVE LOVE LOVE aphid meat.
While I still don’t know the exact species of soldier beetle that hatched out, I do know that my honeysuckle has never been happier.
I don’t know much about these beetles: where they lay their eggs, what the larvae underground eat, or what the coccoon looks like, but I now know this: the adults will decimate an aphid infestation in short order.
Jaci Dawn 