Habitat areas are planned on field borders or other odd or unused areas adjacent or near-to the cash crop fields. Take an inventory of the farm to locate these potentially suitable areas. They can be as small as quarter acre but the generally recommended minimum size is 0.5 acre.
If any insecticides are used on the farm or known to be used on adjoining farms, ensure that the habitat areas are protected from potential drift or runoff, and consider posting signs around the habitat areas to prevent accidental spaying on the habitat areas. A useful resources can be found online provided by the NRCS and Xerces Society: Preventing or Mitigating Potential Negative Impacts of Pesticides on Pollinators Using Integrated Pest Management and Other Conservation Practices.
Plants Suitable for Beneficial Insect Habitat Review Appendix 1 for the plant families and requirements that create habitat for the desired beneficial insects. The plants listed are referred to by their family grouping (i.e., mint family). Use Appendix 2 to obtain a listing of plant species (sorted by their family grouping) that are suited to Colorado.
- Select a mixture of species that consist of at least three plant species for each blooming period (spring, summer, fall); to ensure that habitat will sustain the beneficial insects.
- Plantings should consist of a diversity of plants with at least six species in the mix.
- Provide consideration for incorporating as many native species as possible.
Appendix 2 is a starting point for determining which plants to use. To find species adapted to the habitat area consult the Soil Survey and other resources such as climate data (planting zones). Use the USDA PLANTS database (http://plants.usda.gov/) to further refine the selection.
Selecting Suitable Plants based on Blooming Periods As a general rule, insectary bloom periods are defined for Colorado in Table 1. The intent of providing boom periods is to help select plants that will blooming throughout the growing season. This is particularly helpful for selecting insectary plants. However, for trap crops you may only want to select the bloom periods that precedes and coincides with the cash crop.
Table 1: Insectary Bloom Periods
| Early Season Bloom Period: April 15th - June 15th |
| Mid-Season Bloom Period: June 15th - July |
| Late Season Bloom Period: August - September |
Establish Beneficial Insect Habitat NRCS provides several conservation practices that may be used to establish habitat for beneficial insects. For the selected practice, the purpose and associated criteria will be for Pollinators/Beneficial Insects. Table 2 lists the most appropriate and commonly used practices.
Table 2: Conservation practices commonly used to establish beneficial insect habitat.
For Insectaries (permanent cover) |
For Trap Crops (annual cover) |
|---|---|
|
327 - Conservation Cover |
340 - Cover Crop |
