Beneficial Critters
See also our photos of Beneficials, Beneficial Insects and Spiders in Your Maine Backyard, and this helpful resource about Insectary Plants (part of a free online resource to help you discover and grow various plant species)
- Ambush Bugs and Assassin Bugs
- Anchor Stink Bug (BugGuide.net)
- Ants (Although it is true that many ants are often pests and/or a nuisance from a human perspective, ants are also beneficial in many ways, as discussed in this University of Iowa publication entitled Ants in Lawns)
- Backswimmers (UWM)
- Bees — some online materials available include: “Understanding Native Bees, the Great Pollinators: Enhancing Their Habitat in Maine” (UMaine Extension), “How to Create a Bee-Friendly Landscape“ (UMaine Extension); see also the comprehensive website “Bee Health“ by eXtension!
- Blood-colored Checkered Beetle (BugGuide.net)
- Bronze Carabid / Bronze Ground Beetle
- Bumblebees (BugGuide.net)
- Carrion Beetles
- Centipedes
- Damselflies
- Dobsonflies
- Dragonflies
- European Ground Beetle
- Eyed Click Beetle (Eyed Elater) (Texas A&M)
- Flower Flies (also called Hover Flies or Syrphid Flies)
- Golden Ground Beetle (metallic green but with gold reflections) (BugGuide.net)
- Ground Beetles (some examples):
- Bronze Carabid / Bronze Ground Beetle
- Golden Ground Beetle (metallic green but with gold reflections) (BugGuide.net)
- Honey bees (eXtension.org)
- Horsehair Worms
- Hover Flies (also called Flower Flies or Syrphid Flies)
- Hummingbird Clearwing Moths (or Hummingbird Hawk-moths) (USGS) Caterpillar stage (University of Missouri)
- Ichneumonid wasps (Texas A&M)
- Lacewings (Virginia Tech)
- Ladybugs / Ladybird Beetles (one common species or example: Multicolored Asian Lady Beetle) Ladybugs are beneficial but they are sometimes a household nuisance.
- Monarch Butterflies
- Paper Wasps/Yellowjackets/Hornets
- Praying Mantids (Univ. of Kentucky)
- Predaceous Diving Beetles (BugGuide.net)
- Pseudoscorpions (BugGuide.net)
- Robber Flies (NC State Extension)
- Rove Beetles (University of Wisconsin-Madison)
- Sand Wasps (Missouri Dept of Conservation)
- Sowbugs and Pillbugs (Univ. of Maryland / UMD Cooperative Extension) They are beneficial decomposers.
- Spiders
- Spined Soldier Bug (BugGuide.net)
- Springtails / Snowfleas — A few species are agricultural pests but by and large springtails are beneficial to agriculture and nature.
- Examples of some predatory Stink Bugs:
- Anchor Stink Bug (BugGuide.net)
- Spined Soldier Bug (BugGuide.net)
- Syrphid Flies (also called Hover Flies or Flower Flies)
- Tachinid Flies (University of Wisconsin)
- Tachinid Fly (Hystricia abrupta) (BugGuide.net)
- Tachinid Fly (Juriniopsis adusta) (BugGuide.net)
- Tachinid Fly (genus Cylindromyia) (BugGuide.net)
- Tiger Beetles (Texas A&M); (Maine IF&W: Rare Tiger Beetles)
- Wasps/Hornets/Yellowjackets
- Water Boatmen (UWM)
- Water Scavenger Beetles (Texas A&M)
- Water Scorpions
- Water Striders
- Woodlice / Sowbugs (Univ. of Maryland / UMD Cooperative Extension)
- Yellowjackets/Hornets/Wasps (beneficial predators and decomposers)