Welcome them and let them do their hungry work.

Good bugs are a homeowner’s best friend, while bad bugs can wipe out weeks of gardening in just a few days.

The good bug club includes ladybugs, praying mantises, green lacewings, hoverflies and parasitic wasps. They feed on bad bugs.

The notorious bad bug gang of four includes aphids, whitefly, scale and mealybugs. They feed on plants and can cause severe damage.

Good bugs end a delicious meal of bad bugs with the nectar of flowering plants for dessert.

Ladybugs are beloved and well-known beneficial insects and praying mantises will eat aphids, whitefly and others. Fragile-looking green lacewings feed on aphids, mites and other small insects and insect eggs. Hoverflies look like little bees, hovering and darting in the garden.

They feed on aphids, mealybugs and others. Tiny miniwasps that don’t sting, parasitic wasps, lay eggs in the bodies of insect pests. After hatching, they feed on the host pest.

This dream team will also allow you to garden as safely as possible. There is no need to worry about harming pets or children with chemical sprays. You are also encouraging biodiversity in your garden by gardening organically.

Ladybugs harvested from colonies in California’s foothills can be purchased spring through summer at most garden centers. They will stay in your garden as long as there is something to eat. If they leave, that is OK. It means your garden is clean and they have probably moved on to your neighbor’s yard.

Praying mantis egg cases can also be purchased, but only during spring. They will hatch by summertime. Each egg case is placed in your garden where the mantises will hatch and meander through your garden. It is always a bit startling to meet up with a full-grown mantis later in the summer. Although they are forlorn and harmless, it is clear they have eaten more than a few bad bugs once full-grown.

Green lacewings must be special-ordered at your neighborhood nursery but can be delivered directly to you. Since they do not store well, you will want to release them immediately so they can get to work.