Last year, Jessica Dawe -- "the bug lady," as she calls herself -- was called in to deal with a severe aphid infestation at city hall in Parksville.

She arrived with bags containing 75,000 ladybugs, which she released into the rows of maples and poplars.

"Within seven days the area was as clean as a whistle," she says. "You couldn't find an aphid to save your life."

Using good bugs to control bad bugs is Dawe's specialty.

"It's not just that I want to protect the environment. I do this because it works. These creatures have evolved over millions of years to do this, so it only makes sense for us to use them to do what they do naturally."

Dawe, who lives in Errington, near Parksville, started out helping commercial farmers with their integrated pest management (IPM) programs.

From doing speaking engagements, she got the name "the bug lady." She has now started a hobby business, selling predatory insects such as ladybugs, crypts, and aphidoletes as well as nematodes for controlling weevils and chafer beetles.

"All bugs have their place in nature. Not every creepy crawly is a pest," she says.

In her own garden, Dawe used ladybugs to control aphids that infested a plum tree. She releases between 250 to 300 under the tree when the aphids are at their worst and the problem disappears.

"I usually douse the tree with water first, then release the bugs in the morning or early evening, not in the heat of the day because that would make them cranky.

"First, they take a drink from the droplets of water, then they mate and start feeding."

Dawe says it is essential to wait until you have an aphid problem before buying ladybugs.

"The moment they are released they need to find food. This is not a preventative method, it is a way of solving a problem. If you don't have any aphids in your garden, the ladybugs fly away to search for food elsewhere."

However, she says it is possible to create "long-term control" by establishing a ladybug population by growing plants that have a high nectar and pollen content.

A bag of 500 ladybugs costs about $10, she says, which is plenty for an average-size garden. They are mostly used to control aphid colonies on roses and fruit trees in May and June.

Aphidoletes is another insect that can be used to control aphids. A tiny, midge-like fly, similar to a mosquito, it lays eggs in an aphid colony. When the bright orange larvae emerge they attack the aphid at the leg joints, causing paralysis, as they suck the juices from the aphid's body.

Dawe also recommends using nematodes to control root weevils, cutworms, leatherjackets and chafer beetles.

Root weevils, which are also called black vine weevils, are responsible for chomping the leaves of rhododendrons.

For about $35, a packet containing five million nematodes can be used to treat at least 20 mature rhododendrons to control weevils from mid-March to June.

"Soil moisture is a key factor," says Dawe. "The nematodes cruise through the soil to find the weevils, so it has to be moist."

Predatory insects can also be used to control indoor bug problems. Fungus gnats, for instance, which live in the roots of tropical plants, can be controlled using a reddy-brown mite called hypoaspis.

"Bugs have had a bad rap for years ... but people are starting to see that there are also good bugs," Dawe says.

For more information about beneficial insects and natural pest management visit Dawe's website at www.thebuglady.ca. To order good bugs, visit your local garden centre, which can get bugs from Dawe.