Chrysoperla rufilabris and Chrysopa ornata
Copyright, California Academy of Sciences
There are many species of
Green Lacewings, and they are very hard to tell apart. Two
of the most common are the Common Lacewing (Chrysoperla
rufilabris) and the Eastern Green Lacewing (Chrysopa
ornata). Green Lacewings live in
fields,
gardens, and forest edges. They like to be where they can
camouflage
with green leaves and stems. Green Lacewings grow to
about 1/2 inch long. Their bodies are pale green or pale
yellow. They have gold or copper-colored eyes, and long,
thread-like antennae.
Lacewings have long, clear wings with green
veins.
Copyright, Edward S. Ross
Local Hazardous Waste
Management Program, King County Green Lacewings lay eggs
on white stalks, hanging from the bottom of leaves.
Larvae
(baby lacewings) hatch in a few days. Lacewing larvae,
sometimes called "aphid lions" eat many small insects as
they grow. Besides aphids, they eat other small insects,
including caterpillars,
butterfly eggs, small beetles, scale insects, leafhoppers,
thrips, small flies, and other small insects and eggs. They
also eat mites, and they sometimes eat each
other. Larvae have large hooked
jaws, which they grab their prey
with before sucking out the juices. Lacewing larvae are
yellowish-gray or brown, and a little bit less than 1/2 inch
long. After two or three weeks
of eating, the larvae will make a coccoon (pupa
stage) on the bottom of a leaf. In about five days, the
adult
lacewing leaves its coccoon. Adult Green Lacewings
live for up to six weeks. A females may lay 200 eggs in her
lifetime. Copyright, Baldo
Villegas
Ken Gray Slide Collection, Oregon State University, Extension Entomology
