Insects You Should Avoid Killing At All Costs

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Most would prefer not to turn their home into an all-exclusive insect hotel. Similarly, seeing bugs crawling around your garden can be concerning. However, many creepy crawlies can benefit your home and garden by helping to fight unwanted and damage-causing pests. For example, spiders (though technically arachnids and not insects) can be beneficial to have indoors. Most house spider species are harmless to humans and only want to bite and feed on smaller prey like ants, moths, and other household pests. Likewise, several types of insects, though they may creep you out, won't cause any harm to you or your home's structure.

Though you don't want to kill every bug that crosses your path, it doesn't mean you must let them take over. If you notice a surplus of insects sneaking in, it's a good idea to start taking preventative measures. Search and fill in any cracks where tiny intruders can get through. Eliminate food sources by properly storing and promptly removing trash and keeping food items in airtight containers. Avoid leaving standing water in your home and garden. Birdbaths, puddles, pet bowls, and other sources allow nuisances like mosquitoes to lay eggs. Even with safeguards, it isn't impossible to cross paths with a bug or two in an otherwise perfectly tidy home. However, before you reach for your pesticide bottle, first ensure you familiarize yourself with the species you're dealing with. Here are 13 insects you should avoid killing at all costs.

Saying that ground beetles aren't the cutest insect would be an understatement. Their cockroach-like appearance unsettles many homeowners, making it hard to resist the urge to grab the Raid. However, ground beetles are handy little bugs to have around, as they help keep snails and slugs out of your garden. They also hunt for common plant enemies like aphids and help keep the soil healthy for crops and flowers. Although a bit creepy, they're more of a nuisance than anything when indoors. They don't destroy buildings and won't reproduce inside your home. They may pinch if mishandled, but they otherwise won't unless provoked.

Rather than trying to terminate any ground beetles in your garden, do what you can to encourage them to stay and help control pests. Add leaf litter, rocks, or mulch to give them a place to hide and rest during the day. Consider placing a small dish of water near the area to provide them with some moisture if you have a particularly dry garden. Reduce pesticide use if you see beetles or other garden-friendly bugs, and opt for more natural pest control remedies. Since beetles aren't colony insects, it's unlikely to have more than a few at a time in your home. To remove them, you can use the same container and paper capturing method as we discussed with praying mantises. If there is a swarm of them, then are you sure they aren't cockroaches? At that point, you probably need to hire an exterminator.

Green lacewings get their name from their beautiful, delicate wings that look like they're sewn with a fine thread. They may resemble small fairy-like creatures you'd see in a fantasy book, but are they worth keeping around your home and garden? Most gardeners would agree that these dainty insects are best kept amongst your outdoor plants. Like other helpful bugs on this list, green lacewings eat common pests like whiteflies, mealybugs, mites, aphids, and thrips. They don't carry diseases and won't bite or sting you. Plus, it's pretty uncommon for green lacewings to find their way indoors, though it's also not unheard of.

If a green lacewing is inside your house, you can let it hang out or help it return outside. Some people even purposely bring in these natural pest controllers to help with houseplants. They only live about 20-40 days and tend to be pretty peaceful roommates during their short lives. If you're relocating them, it's crucial to be extremely careful when bringing them back outside. Start by gently nudging the lacewing into a cup. Once inside, place your hand over the top to keep it from escaping until you're where you want to release it. Plant plenty of flowers to encourage green lacewings to live in your garden. Choosing species with diverse bloom times is one of the easy ways you can bring good insects into your garden. You can also fill a terracotta tray with colorful pebbles and water to give them a moisture source.

People sometimes confuse hoverflies for wasps since they're about the same size and have similar color patterns. However, you should avoid killing these wasp lookalikes as they are another essential pollinator and a friend you want to have in your garden. Although the adults eat mostly nectar, their larvae feed on pests like thrips and aphids as their main food source. Despite their appearance, they cannot sting at all and are entirely harmless to humans. The easiest way to differentiate hoverflies from their stinging counterparts is by looking at the wings. They only have two wings with the same shape as other flies within their family, while wasps have four wings.

One of the best ways to benefit the ecosystem and attract pollinating insects like hoverflies is to plant a wide variety of brightly colored and nectar-rich blooms. Avoid using harsh chemicals on your crops, as they harm all insects, not just pests. Neem oil is one of the best natural pest control products on the market because it helps rid plants of damaging insects but doesn't harm pollinators.

House centipedes (Scutigera coleoptrata) may look like something out of a horror movie, but are they really as bad as they seem? These leggy creatures can be jarring to look at, so most people's first instinct is to remove them from their homes immediately. However, if you can get past their unsightly appearance, you may want to reconsider squishing house centipedes and instead let them share your living space. They won't snack on any food you leave out, but instead, they will spend most of their time hunting small pests like ants, termites, and some spider species. Additionally, those living outside won't eat any of your garden crops; they'd rather feed on bugs that cause damage to your plants. So they can be helpful little garden buddies. House centipedes don't create nests, destroy fabric, or cause any structural damage. They typically don't bite and will run away from humans, though they may lash out if feeling cornered.

House centipedes come inside to protect themselves from the cold environs and lay their eggs — peak centipede season is usually in spring and autumn. If you decide you don't want to be housemates with a centipede, there are ways to prevent them from coming into your house. House centipedes usually make their home in damp areas like crawl spaces, basements, and bathrooms. Seal any crevices in your basement walls and install a screen in any floor drains to keep them from coming through dry sump pumps. Encourage outdoor centipedes to help tend to your garden by providing plenty of moist soil and shady areas with compost, logs, and rocks.

Despite being insects, ladybugs' bright and colorful appearance makes them pretty adorable creatures. However, they're more than just a cute face. Also known as ladybirds, these tiny bugs are one of the most effective safeguards against soft-bodied pests that wreak havoc on house and garden plants. They can consume 50 or more aphids daily and feed on other crop-damaging irritants like mites, mealy bugs, scale, and more. Because they help eliminate most of what gardeners have nightmares about, you can even buy ladybugs as a natural pest control. So consider providing them shelter in the winter and using them to control pests in warmer months.

Aside from the occasional smell, there aren't many downsides to coexisting with the little red beetles, but if you want to keep them out of your house, there are a couple of safe, harmless methods to do so. If you already have them in your home, capture them in a jar and release them outdoors, ideally near your garden if you have one. Using a bug vacuum, like this Sonic Technology BugBuster, to suck them up is another option you can use, especially if you have an infestation. Once you've collected them all, release them outdoors. If you continue to have issues, you may need to hire a professional to identify and fix their entryways thoroughly.

Although honey bees have stingers, they aren't as big of a threat as you may think. Honey bees are vital for pollinating crops and flowers, so killing them ultimately hurts the ecosystem. If bees become extinct, the plants they pollinate will also die, eliminating food sources and habitats for millions of species. This seemingly small change could make the food network fall apart, creating a domino effect that would eventually destroy our planet. Currently, bees are dying faster than ever. So go easy on them if you see them — spotting our fuzzy, black-and-yellow-striped friends buzzing around your garden is a sign that it's thriving, so it's best to let them enjoy their lunch. Despite misconceptions, honey bees are relatively docile and will likely only sting when they feel threatened.

While having pollinators in your yard is one thing, having them in your home isn't ideal for anyone. You'll want to get the honey bees outside while causing the least harm possible. If there are only a couple of bees, you can use a bug vacuum to suck them up before freeing them outdoors, preferably by nectar-rich plants, so they can buzz on their way and return home. An infestation or a hive in your walls can be a bit trickier to manage and is better handled by a professional. However, rather than calling an exterminator, contact a beekeeper who can safely relocate them. To keep honey bees thriving in your garden, you can purchase a bee hotel like this Eco-Friendly Bee House Hotel from Amazon — and make sure there are plenty of flowers for food nearby.

Despite the off-putting name, stink bugs aren't the worst insects to have in your home. Most of them won't sting or bite. That said, while a bite from one of the rarer species may hurt, they're non-venomous and won't spread any diseases. There are over 200 species in North America, and while they aren't harmful, you probably still don't want this invasive species roaming around the house. However, killing them isn't a great idea either. If feeling threatened or crushed, they'll release a foul-smelling chemical that's more powerful than you'd think. Additionally, some species feed on armyworms, certain types of beetles, and other damaging insects. Unfortunately, the other group of stink bugs enjoys eating crops, so it's crucial to classify the ones you're dealing with.

Stink bugs tend to appear in early spring or summer, so it's an ideal time to ensure your windows are sealed and there aren't any cracks they can get through. The easiest way to distinguish between the good and bad guys is by looking at the tops of their bodies. Predatory stink bugs, the beneficial kind, will have sharp shoulder spines, and their antennas will be one shade with no white banding. To catch them, use a plastic baggie to pick them up and release them outdoors near your garden so they can fulfill their pest-control duties. As for the other types of stink bugs, release them away from your garden. Spray your garden plants to repel stink bugs and other common garden pests. You can use various natural ingredients to repel stink bugs without resorting to pesticides, like neem oil.

Wasps can be terrifying, especially ichneumon ones. After all, most species can get quite large, while their slender waists lend them a scorpion-like shape. The long ovipositors — which many mistake for dangerous stingers — protruding from their abdomens or rolling around their bodies when they're resting, aren't exactly calming. Yet, there's little need to raise your hackles if ichneumon wasps invade your home. The males don't carry stingers, and those alarming-looking ovipositors that the females sport are meant for laying their eggs inside insects, like caterpillars, sawflies, beetles, or flies. Since the female wasps inject their eggs directly into these pesky bugs, effectively killing them, their presence is actually beneficial. Besides spotting the odd ichneumon brought indoors with firewood, they're also one of the many wasps you might find in your yard, where they'll most likely be scouring for wood-boring insects inhabiting diseased or decaying hardwood trees. They also target tomato hornworms, borers, and weevils.

If you choose to tackle the ichneumon wasps, know they won't sting, unless they feel threatened, and are unable to deliver true stings. Females may use their ovipositors to jab in a last-ditch effort to protect themselves, but they do not carry any form of poison or venom. Since they are solitary and don't build colonies, ichneumon wasps will typically be present in small numbers, even when congregating around your porch lights during spring evenings. The best option is to let them be, and they'll leave of their own accord. But if you need to move one, try to gently catch it (wearing a pair of thick working gloves can eliminate any possibility of getting poked if you're dealing with a female) and release it in the yard for pest control.

Although moths hovering around the porch lights can be an annoying sight, there are quite a few reasons to avoid killing these insects. For starters, they can be effective pollinators, and are perhaps the main visitors to the beautiful white blooms adorning your yucca, gardenia, evening primrose plants, and apple trees that they help pollinate. With their populations already dwindling down due to excessive use of pesticides and habitat loss, practicing a no-harm policy towards moths is perhaps just as important as it has become for bees. If you need another reason to endure their presence, their caterpillars serve as a delicious food source for bats, birds, and other small animals like frogs. Finally, they won't attack or bite you.

That being said, not all moths are harmless. Certain varieties, such as meal moths, piggyback on dry food packages and damage pantry supplies. Likewise, the larvae of clothes moths that typically come attached to thrifted items, can eat through fibers, riddling your favorite woolen sweater with holes. For this reason, it's important to differentiate whether you're dealing with a beneficial moth that's mistakenly wandered inside or one that's going to cause problems indoors. In the case of the former, just usher the little bug out and keep outdoor lights off or swap them out for red-hued ones so moths aren't attracted inside. For the harmful ones, consider utilizing this trick to keep moths out of the kitchen and mothproofing your clothing.

Sporting iridescent wings that catch light as they glide in the summer air, dragonflies are some of the most beautiful insects to inhabit this planet. Yet, when they start collecting around an area or stray inside our homes, their presence and the constant buzz can become a source of nuisance for some. However, there's no need to lose your wits around these aerial predators. Dragonflies don't sting humans — unless you catch them by their heads, and they also don't attack. Plus, they won't damage your property, and can be rather useful to have around. They visit areas featuring water sources, like ponds, streams, or rain gardens, for egg laying. If you're trying to figure out how to get rid of mosquitoes or gnats, you'll be happy to hear that dragonfly larvae and adults can help control these disease-spreading pests. They're super-skilled predators, and target a variety of aerial insects, including winged ants and midges. Unfortunately, sometimes small moths and butterflies also fall prey to their mandibles.

Given the absolute flourish with which they finish off bad bugs, it makes sense to tolerate the presence of dragonflies if one drifts inside your home. Chances are, it's newly emergent and recuperating energy, or simply digesting food. Leave the windows open, and it'll leave after recovery. In case it doesn't, gently swat away with a folded newspaper. As a last resort, catch by the wings to manually remove an unwanted dragonfly.

Seeing earwigs, especially in your house, can be a little startling. They have long antennas sticking out the front of their head and pincers protruding from the back of their abdomen. However, they don't want to harm you and instead, have similar goals to yours. Gross though they may be, think twice before killing earwigs — they can do a lot of good in your garden. They scour your plants for eggs of pesky insects like aphids, helping to keep your crops healthy. They also feed on and help break down dead plant matter into humus. Earwigs can sometimes much on seedlings and fresh shoots, but they generally won't do much harm in established gardens stocked with mature perennials. 

Earwigs also don't typically do damage indoors, but if they keep coming in, you can try using apple cider vinegar to deter earwigs. You can also gather them all up at once by wetting an empty toilet paper roll and placing it in the area where you've seen them hanging out. Because earwigs are drawn to dark, damp places, they'll make their way inside the tube. Once you have them all, you can grab the cardboard and take them outside to set them free.