RE: Visits From Wasps. How Nature's Pest Control Works
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Here in the "upper left" corner of the US we also have quite the issue with the cabbage whites on broccoli, cauliflower, actual cabbage and so on. Haven't really seen any signs of parasitic wasps, though... so we have to control them through other means.
Our aphids mostly seem to enjoy snacking on the roses. Last year, we actually purchased a box of ladybugs and set them free in the garden, and that was surprisingly effective.
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I was actually just wondering how wide spread these types of wasps might be across the world. I don't recall ever seeing the signs of them in the UK. It's also hard to know what pesticides have done to populations in didn't regions.
Here in South Australia, some of the local growers have been introducing predator species for pest control, so that might be why we're seeing them in our own gardens now too. I think other gardeners will be benefiting from your generous ladybird purchase too.
A bit "on the fence" about introducing parasitic species... maybe it's OK with insects, but I've seen it go horribly wrong with mammals and fish, where the imported "solution" turns around and becomes a major problem, throwing the ecosystem out of balance.
Then again, we probably only hear about the extreme cases.
I think with the predator insects it's more of a reintroduction after pesticides have decimated populations. Being in Australia I know all too well the problems introducing imported species which don't belong causes. We even have plagues of millipedes and earwigs from Europe which do better here than the native ones.