If you’ve ever had to deal with caterpillar or aphid infestation in your garden, you may have heard people recommend that you try to attract braconid wasps.
These amazing creatures have been around for a long time and have the startling ability to keep unwanted insects under control. They can destroy a tomato hornworm or cabbage looper infestation in no time flat.
In this article, we’ll tell you all about these wonderful wasps and how to attract them to your garden.
What We’ll Discuss
What are Braconid Wasps, Exactly?
Braconid wasps are parasitic insects from the Braconidae family. They’ve been around for a hundred million years or so, and there are around twenty thousand different species.
The reason you want to attract braconid wasps to your garden is because they’re immensely beneficial for keeping local harmful insect populations down.
This is because they either interrupt the larval life cycle—killing them off before they get the chance to annihilate your plants—or kill off adult insects before they can lay eggs.
They do this by using their pokey ovipositors (needle-like appendages) to deposit eggs into the insect host’s body. When those eggs hatch, they destroy the host by feeding on its internal tissues and juices until it finally dies.
As disgusting as this sounds, it does wonders to kill off aphids, beetles, and flies, as well as the larvae of tomato hornworms, leaf miners, corn borers, cabbage white caterpillars, and owlet moths (aka cabbage loopers).
Plants that Attract These Beneficial Wasps
You can attract braconid wasps by planting flowers and herbs around your garden that the insects like to feast upon. Parasitic wasps got their moniker from their egg-laying habits.
The plants listed below offer nectar and pollen that braconids love, so be sure to plant them in and around your gardens!
1. Yarrow (Achillea millefolium)
Yarrow is a superstar in any garden environment. Not only does it thrive in depleted soil, it attracts countless different beneficial insects, and has extraordinary healing abilities. In fact, yarrow is one of the top 10 companion plants to cultivate in any garden space, as it’s an excellent neighbor to every species.
Sow it around the perimeter of your property and between crops to draw braconid wasps wherever you need them most. Aim for white yarrow rather than red or pink for this purpose.
2. Queen Anne’s Lace (Daucus carota)
Although some people mistake Queen Anne’s Lace for yarrow, it’s of the Apiaceae family like carrots and dill, rather than Asteraceae like yarrow or chamomile.
Now that we’ve touched upon family differences, we can laud this lovely plant’s ability to attract braconid wasps over to your land from far and wide.
This plant not only creates nectar that wasps love but also offers an excellent environment for these beneficial insects to hide in.
They take shelter in among the floral umbels and wait for a hornworm, looper, or caterpillar to mosey on by, at which point they swoop in and attack them.
As a member of the carrot family, this plant isn’t an ideal neighbor for potatoes, parsnips, or celery.
3. Sweet Alyssum (Lobularia maritima)
This lovely brassica is as lovely to look at as it is beneficial. If you’re looking for low-growing ground cover or decorative filler along border edges, it’s absolutely ideal. It’ll draw the braconid wasps you’re aiming to attract while also adding an extraordinary amount of beauty to the garden.
As an added bonus, it’s also edible. If you aim to use multi-purpose plants as much as possible, consider adding this one to your list!
For more multi-purpose plant ideas, check out our species roundup.
4. Roman Chamomile (Chamaemelum nobilis)
This perennial plant has sweet, daisy-shaped blossoms and a scent reminiscent of apples. It’s grown as a tea herb in gardens worldwide and attracts all manner of beneficial insects.
Roman chamomile is better at attracting braconid wasps than German chamomile, and as a perennial, it’s also a lot easier to maintain.
Chamomile makes an excellent companion plant to any vegetable or fruit, but can be invasive. Furthermore, avoid planting it or any other daisy (Asteraceae) family member if you have a severe ragweed allergy.
Find out everything you need to know about growing chamomile in our guide.
5. Tansy (Tanacetum vulgare)
This plant is also a member of the daisy family mentioned above, but its flowers look like fuzzy yellow chamomile centers without the white petals surrounding them.
Tansy contains several volatile compounds, including thujone, borneol, and camphor, which repel unwanted insects while attracting beneficial ones, such as our beloved braconid wasps.
Plant tansy around your potatoes, cucumbers, carrots, and roses to fend off harmful flies, borers, and beetles. While it does that job effectively, it’ll also draw our helpful wasp friends over to kill off cutworms and bad caterpillars.
6. Dill (Anethum graveolens)
You may adore dill (aka “dill weed”) as a flavoring for pickles, fresh summer salads, and gravlax, but you’ll also love how it draws braconid wasps to your garden.
This frilly member of the Apiaceae (aka Umbelliferae) family is a cousin to some of the other species on this list. If you love it as a seasoning, know that it also pulls serious double duty as a wasp (and pollinator) attractor.
Plant it around your tomatoes, cucumbers, and brassicas to help fend off interlopers while beckoning wasps over as pest management.
In fact, if you have extra seeds, feel free to plant them around the perimeter of your property as well. The more wasps you can attract to your homestead, the healthier all of your plants will be.
With dill, fennel, cilantro, and other related species, the key to attracting braconids is to let them go to flower.
If you prefer to use dill weed as a flavoring agent, harvest it before the plants flower for optimal flavor and sow extra seeds to allow plants to mature to their flowering stage. In contrast, if you prefer to use the seeds, allow the flowers to mature fully and then harvest the seeds come autumn.
If you love dill, we have 12 gorgeous dill pickle recipes for you to try.
7. Sweet Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare)
If you’re not a fan of eating fennel bulbs, that’s okay! There are a lot of sweet fennel cultivars grown solely for their flowers and seeds.
This plant is another member of the Apiaceae family, and has been cultivated for millennia as a flavoring agent for breads, baked goods, savory dishes, sweets, and alcohols such as absinthe.
Like its cousin, dill, fennel makes a great companion for cucumbers and roses, but is also an attractive plant to have around your garden’s perimeter. Additionally, fennel seeds are excellent additions to your home herbal medicine cabinet.
They’re highly carminative (i.e. they alleviate digestive gas), and are thus invaluable for treating colic, gas, and bloating in both humans and some animal species (such as rabbits).
8. Coriander (Coriandrum sativum)
The fresh leaves of this Apiaceae plant are known as cilantro and are used in Mexican, South American, Thai, and Vietnamese cuisine. In contrast, their seeds, coriander, are more popular as a seasoning in Greek, Middle Eastern, North African, and Indian dishes.
If you like to cook any of these cuisines, interplant your coriander around tomatoes, peppers, beans, cucumbers, radishes, cabbages, and lettuces.
Much like dill, coriander attracts beneficial bees and butterflies over to pollinate your plants, while drawing braconid wasps over to keep the aphid and worm populations down.
9. Borage (Borago officinalis)
Borage, a cousin to our beloved comfrey, is part of the Boraginaceae or forget-me-not family. Its beautiful blue flowers are as delicious as they are appealing to beneficial pollinators and also attract the braconid wasps we’re getting to know and love.
Better still, borage—like comfrey—is considered a universal good neighbor: you can plant it alongside any other species, and it’ll thrive as a result.
Additionally, since borage helps to fix potassium and calcium in the soil, plants whose fruits may suffer from calcium-deficient blossom end rot can benefit from having borage growing nearby.
Cultivate a few plants around your tomatoes, squashes (including zucchini), peppers, and eggplants, and they’ll be sure to thrive.
10. Catnip (Nepeta cataria)
We know and love catnip for the herbal kitty crack that it is, but this magnificent herb is also an invaluable insect attractor.
In terms of companion planting, catnip plays nicely alongside nightshades such as tomatoes, eggplants, and peppers, and can also benefit brassicas like kale, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, and cauliflower.
As an added bonus, catnip has mild sedative and anxiolytic effects, so you can brew up a soothing tea with its leaves and flowers if you’re feeling anxious or have difficulty sleeping.
Be aware that since catnip is a member of the mint family, it’s an aggressive perennial that will gleefully take over your garden if it’s allowed to spread freely. If you’re worried about it getting out of control, simply cultivate it in pots and place those in between and around your vegetable and fruit plants.
For a complete guide to cultivating catnip, check out our article.
11. Buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum)
Buckwheat is a fast-growing crop that can be used as food and fodder. Pollinators such as braconid wasps love the flowers. It’s related to plants like rhubarb and can be eaten as greens or for the seeds, which take just ten weeks to form.
It will also tolerate poor soil and can help prevent erosion with its long taproot. There’s lots to love about this uncommon ancient grain. Learn about growing it to attract wasps and feed your family in our guide.
Choose Lots of Colors
In addition to attracting braconid wasps, the plants mentioned above also attract beneficial pollinators such as bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds. If you’d like to create a garden space that draws beneficial pollinators and parasitic insects, aim for a wide variety of different hues.
This is because bees are usually drawn to white, yellow, and orange blossoms, while butterflies prefer pink, red, and purple.
By interplanting these herbs and flowers with your crops, or using them as border plants, not only will you improve pollination exponentially—you’ll also help to keep your vital food plants from being destroyed.
