Beneficial Insects
Green Lacewing
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Green Lacewing
The Green Lacewing is an even better insect than the well-known ladybug beetle for controlling aphids and many other plant pests. The lacewing larvae will eat almost any kind of insect it can get hold of, including aphids (their favorite), mealybugs, whiteflies, spider mites, thrips, caterpillars, and many more. The larvae are gray and alligator-shaped; as they grow they eat more and more pests - they've been known to eat 60 aphids in one hour! They use their long, hollow, pincer-like jaws to impale their prey, then they suck out all the body fluids, leaving only a shrunken husk. The adults feed on nectar pollen, and the sticky excrement of aphids, whiteflies, and mealybugs, which is called honeydew; some may also be predators.
The lacewing usually works better than the ladybug because it's delivered in the egg stage so it obviously can't fly away, and it can be placed right where the pest actually is. Green Lacewings are delivered in egg form on a card along with many dead moth eggs. It is then stapled to leaves where they're most needed. It usually takes three or four weeks for these predators to control a pest, but this can vary depending on the time of year, the initial number of pest insects, the pest species, the area covered by the pest, etc. Releasing the lacewing at a higher rate will usually speed up the control.
The lacewings can also be used as a preventative measure. If they are put out every two to four weeks in the spring and summer, wave after wave of these predators will be searching your plants for pest infestations and stopping them before they have a chance to build up to damaging levels. This is especially useful if you have a species of plant that seems to get aphids every spring, e.g. citrus trees.
Life Cycle:
When the adult finds some honeydew it will be stimulated to lay eggs, which appear on a thin stalk about 3/4" long, usually on the underside of a leaf. The lacewing larvae live about three weeks before growing large enough to make their cocoon. About 5 to 7 days later, the adult lacewing emerges. When the lacewing egg hatches into wingless larvae, this predator goes after its first meal, then begins to hunt for more live prey - the pests on plants. The lacewing larvae feeds on insects from 14 to 21 days before it cycles to the pupae stage. By putting out lacewing eggs 2 times 14 days apart in plants, trees, and garden areas, it is possible to develop a sustainable cycle of continuous pest-attacking larvae throughout the year except for the months of December through February.
