Lacewing
Chrysopidae
Lacewing, Green Lacewing
Chrysopidae 01 (MK) by Mathias Krumbholz (CC BY-SA 3.0)
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Chrysopidae is a family containing the Lacewing insects. The estimates number of species are well over 1,000.
Most species are green, but you can get brown ones too. They get their common names after the delicate-looking, transparent wings.
Lacewing larvae are perfect allies to have in your garden. The larvae will inject a special digestive fluid into its prey, such as aphids! They suck up the end product, sometimes using what's left of the aphid as a covering to conceal themselves.
Some lacewings are vegetarians, feeding on nectar and pollen. This means that they'll do some pollination in the garden, too.
There are 18 known species of lacewing in the UK.
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Traits
The larvae will eat garden pests.
Appearance
Adults: Elongate, typically green insects with long filiform antennae; some can be brown, too! The wings are delicate, see-through, the wing venation made up of small, rectangular and square shapes. They possess large, bulbous and metallic compound eyes which are positioned on the sides of the head.
Larvae: They can easily be mistaken for ladybird larvae when young. They're almost diamond-shaped when looking at them from above. Some will have white-creamy markings on the body margins.
Eggs: The eggs are so small. The female will lay them on a thread of silk, which hardens to form a stalk-structure.
Activity
Nocturnal
Personality
Order
Neuroptera
Family
Chrysopidae
Metamorphosis
Complete
Distribution
Worldwide
Biological treatment
We wouldn't advise removing these from the garden because they can help you a lot with pest control!
Attract them by planting an array of native, nectar-rich plants can provide food for adults.
Providing log piles, stacks of branches or hedges of plants can provide places of shelter for lacewing.
Attracts
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