There are hundreds of native bee species living along the Gulf Coast. That’s in addition to imported honey bees. Scientists are finding that native bees are more important than honeybees in pollinating native plants. Butterflies, beetles, wasps, and many other insects act as pollinators, as do some birds (hummingbirds for instance) and some mammals (bats),

Then there are the pests. The tomato hornworns, cabbage loopers, sod webworms, chinch bugs, stink bugs, thrips, grasshoppers, mites, aphids, and many more that take advantage of your vegetables, ornamentals and lawns.

Finally there are the predators: predatory insects like assassin bugs, lacewings, praying mantids, robber flies, hoverflies, lady bugs, ground beetles and spiders (which, of course are not insects, but very effective in destroying insect pests. . But this is not the whole list. There are birds, bats, and small mammals which do their job in keeping the bad insects in check.