Where to Find the Good Guys

Ladybugs, praying mantis, decollate snails and beneficial nematodes are available at most nurseries. Other beneficial insects, such as Trichogramma and Encarsia formosa can be purchased at nurseries by special order.

For additional suppliers, write the California Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Pest Management, 1220 N. St., Sacramento, Calif. 94271 and request “Suppliers of Beneficial Organisms in North America.” Single copies of the pamphlet are free.

To learn to distinguish insect allies from enemies, check out a copy of “Rodale’s Color Handbook of Garden Insects” from your local library. The handbook has excellent pictures of most of the good and the bad bugs you’ll find in your garden.

Employing beneficial insects to control plant pests is only one part of chemical-free gardening. For more information on how to wean yourself from horticultural chemical dependence, consult “Rodale’s Chemical-Free Yard and Garden” (Rodale Press, $23.95).

For more scientific detail, consider “Common-Sense Pest Control” by the Bio-Integra Resource Center (The Taunton Press, $39.95). It’s voluminous (715 pages) and a little intimidating, but approached as a reference, it is fascinating.