Which Insects Should You Protect? Pollinators vs Biting Pests

Key takeaways

• Only a small share of the insects in a European garden ever bite or sting people. Most — bees, hoverflies, butterflies, moths, ladybirds, lacewings and ground beetles — pollinate plants or eat garden pests.
• The insects worth protecting yourself from are a short list: female mosquitoes, midges, blackflies, horseflies, fleas and bed bugs, plus ticks, which are not insects at all but arachnids.
• Broad-spectrum garden sprays, foggers and electric bug zappers kill far more harmless and useful insects than biting ones.
• The better approach is to protect the person, not wipe out the garden: remove standing water, use screens and nets, wear covering clothes and apply a skin repellent that keeps biting insects away rather than killing everything around you.

Europe’s pollinators are in trouble, yet every summer millions of people reach for sprays that kill whatever flies past. If you love your garden but hate being bitten, the answer is not to choose between insects and comfort. It is to know which insects actually bite, which ones quietly keep your garden alive — and how to protect yourself from the first group without harming the second.

Why pollinators matter more than most people realise

According to the global assessment by IPBES, more than three-quarters of the leading types of global food crops benefit to some extent from animal pollination, mostly by insects. In Europe, the European Commission has warned about serious declines in wild bees, butterflies and hoverflies, driven by habitat loss, intensive land use, pesticides, pollution, invasive species and climate change.

A private garden will not reverse that trend on its own, but gardens, balconies and allotments together form a large network of habitat. What you plant — and what you spray — makes a real difference to the insects living there.

The insects you want to keep: pollinators and garden helpers

Most of the insects you see on a summer afternoon are either harmless or actively helpful.

Pollinators

• Wild bees and bumblebees — Europe has around 2,000 bee species, and most of them are solitary and rarely sting. Bumblebees are gentle and sting only when handled or trapped.
• Honeybees — important crop pollinators; they sting only in defence, usually near the hive.
• Hoverflies — often mistaken for wasps because of their yellow-and-black stripes, but they cannot sting or bite. Many hoverfly larvae eat aphids.
• Butterflies and moths — night-flying moths are an underrated pollinator group, visiting flowers long after bees have gone home.
• Some beetles — many flower beetles move pollen as they feed.

Natural pest control

• Ladybirds and lacewings — both adults and larvae eat large numbers of aphids.
• Ground beetles and rove beetles — hunt slugs, snails and insect larvae at soil level.
• Dragonflies and damselflies — skilled aerial predators whose larvae eat mosquito larvae in ponds.
• Parasitic wasps — tiny, non-stinging wasps that control caterpillars and aphids.

The biting pests: a surprisingly short list

The insects (and relatives) that actually feed on human blood or sting people are few by comparison:

• Mosquitoes — only the females bite, because they need blood to develop eggs. In parts of Europe, species such as the Asian tiger mosquito can transmit viruses like dengue and chikungunya, and native Culex mosquitoes can carry West Nile virus.
• Midges and blackflies — tiny, often swarming, and notorious near water and in the evening.
• Horseflies — large flies with a painful, slicing bite, common around livestock and water.
• Fleas and bed bugs — mostly an indoor and pet-related problem rather than a garden one.
• Ticks — technically arachnids, not insects, but a key reason to protect yourself outdoors, as they can transmit Lyme disease and tick-borne encephalitis (TBE).

Wasps and hornets sit in the middle: they sting when threatened, yet they also hunt caterpillars and flies and pollinate some plants.

Pollinator or pest? A quick comparison

Why killing everything backfires

Many products sold to deal with biting insects work by killing insects indiscriminately. The problem is that biting insects make up only a small fraction of what they hit.

• Garden foggers and broad-spectrum sprays drift onto flowers and foliage, where they reach bees, hoverflies and beneficial predators. The US Environmental Protection Agency advises following label directions carefully precisely because many pesticides are toxic to bees.
• Electric bug zappers attract insects with ultraviolet light. Mosquitoes are drawn mainly by carbon dioxide and body odour rather than light, so zappers tend to kill large numbers of moths, beetles and other harmless night-flying insects instead.
• Removing predators can make pest problems worse. A garden without dragonflies, birds and ladybirds has fewer natural checks on mosquitoes and aphids.

How to protect yourself without harming pollinators

The most effective strategy is simple: keep biting insects off you, and leave the rest of the garden alone.

1. Tackle breeding sites. Empty or cover standing water in buckets, saucers, toys and blocked gutters every week. A pond with fish, dragonflies and moving water rarely becomes a mosquito problem. Our guide on how to get rid of mosquitoes in your garden naturally covers this in detail.
2. Use physical barriers. Window screens, bed nets and a fan on the terrace keep mosquitoes away without any chemicals in the environment.
3. Dress for the time of day. Light, loose, long-sleeved clothing at dusk and in long grass reduces bites from mosquitoes, midges and ticks.
4. Apply repellent to skin, not to plants. Skin-applied repellents work by making you harder for biting insects to find. They are not designed to be sprayed across flowerbeds, so apply them away from flowers and never spray them onto plants.
5. Choose ingredients that break down. Repellent washes off in showers, swimming pools and lakes. Biodegradable formulas reduce what ends up in waterways — see why biodegradable repellent matters for rivers and lakes.
6. Plant for pollinators. Native wildflowers, herbs such as thyme and lavender, and a patch of uncut grass support bees and hoverflies. They will not attract more mosquitoes, which breed in water, not in flowers.

How incognito® helps

incognito® was built around the idea of protecting people rather than poisoning the outdoors. Our DEET-free Insect Repellent Spray uses PMD (Citrepel®), a plant-based active derived from Java citronella (Cymbopogon winterianus). PMD is one of the repellent actives recognised by health authorities alongside DEET, and our formula is clinically proven and recommended against both mosquitoes and ticks.

It is applied to your skin to keep biting insects away rather than to kill insects around you, and it is vegan and biodegradable. You can explore the full incognito® range for lotions, kids’ protection and sun care that follow the same approach.

FAQs

Do bees and bumblebees bite people?
No. Bees do not bite to feed on people. Honeybees, bumblebees and some solitary bees can sting in self-defence, usually only when they are trapped, stepped on or their nest is disturbed.

Are hoverflies dangerous?
No. Hoverflies look like small wasps but have no sting and cannot bite. They are valuable pollinators, and many of their larvae eat aphids.

Does insect repellent harm bees and other pollinators?
Skin-applied repellent is designed to be used on people, not sprayed over plants, so pollinators have little contact with it. Apply it away from flowers, never spray it onto plants and choose a biodegradable formula to limit what reaches the environment.

Are ticks insects?
No. Ticks are arachnids, related to spiders and mites. They have eight legs as adults and do not fly or jump; they climb onto people from grass and undergrowth.

Do bug zappers kill mosquitoes?
Only a few. Mosquitoes are attracted mainly by carbon dioxide and body odour, not ultraviolet light, so zappers mostly kill moths, beetles and other harmless insects.

Can I have a pollinator garden without more mosquito bites?
Yes. Mosquitoes breed in standing water, not flowers. Remove stagnant water, use screens and nets, and protect your skin with repellent in the evening, and you can plant for bees and butterflies without inviting more bites.

Sources

• IPBES — Assessment Report on Pollinators, Pollination and Food Production
• European Commission — Pollinators
• FAO — Pollination
• US EPA — Protecting Bees and Other Pollinators from Pesticides
• ECDC — Protective measures against mosquitoes
• US EPA — Skin-Applied Repellent Ingredients
• NHS — Insect bites and stings

This article is for general information only and is not medical advice. If you have a severe reaction to a bite or sting, signs of infection or symptoms after a tick bite, contact a doctor. Always read the product label before use.