Little Betty was walking through their vegetable garden when all of a sudden she began to scream."Bugs, ugly creepy bugs! They’re all over the place."
"What’s all the fuss?" her grandfather enquired. "Yuck! There are so many nasty critters all over our vegetables. I’m afraid to pick any for dinner tonight. Let’s just start to squish them. Yikes, bad bug, bad bug, get off me."
"Betty, wait! Don’t hurt him. That’s a praying mantis and he is a good bug," her grandfather said, as he gently brushed the praying mantis off her. Betty asked, "What do you mean by ‘good bug’?"
"Just because it’s a bug, or we don’t understand it, or like the way it looks, doesn’t make it bad," he said. "There are bugs that eat or kill our vegetables. I think those are bad bugs. Then there are bugs that eat or chase away those bad bugs. I think they are good bugs. In fact, I put good bugs in my garden so I don’t have to use chemicals to chase away the bad bugs.I have an idea. Let’s go on a safari. It will help you understand."
"A safari!" she exclaimed. "Let’s go!" Betty’s grandfather then explained that she would have to use her imagination to make them very small, so that they could go on a safari into the world of the insects. In a flash, they were there. Betty was a little frightened but she knew that it was all imaginary.
"What do we do now?" she whispered. "Just walk slowly and observe and I will explain about all of the good bugs I put in the garden," he replied.
"Over there is that praying mantis that landed on you. He eats flies and some bad beetles. And because he is big, he has big pincers and can give you quite a pinch."
LadyBugs, and other similar beetles, eat little tiny aphids, mites, and other soft-bodied bugs and their eggs.
Spined soldier bugs (stink bugs) feed on all sorts of garden pests. But don’t accidentally squish one of these, they really smell.
There are many more but it’s getting late. We need to get back to picking vegetables for our dinner. We can go on a safari to the world of the insects again tomorrow."
"grandpa, that was great!" Betty shrieked with joy. "I now understand what you meant by good bugs. And I realize that even though they are good, they can still bite or sting, so I’ll be real careful."
"I can’t wait until we go on a safari again."
