Green Lacewing Eggs

Green lacewing (scientifically known as Chrysoperla rufilabris) is widely used in various situations to control many different pests. Many species of adult lacewings do not kill pest insects, they actually subsist on foods such as nectar, pollen and honeydew. It’s their predacious offspring that get the job done. If you’re looking for effective aphid control, green lacewing larva should help do the trick.

The adult lacewing lays her eggs on foliage where each egg is attached to the top of a hair-like filament. After a few days the eggs hatch and a tiny predatory larva emerges ready to eat some aphid pests.

Lacewing larvae are tiny when emerging from the egg, but grow to 3/8 of an inch long. They’re known as aphid lions since they voraciously attack aphids by seizing them with large, sucking jaws and inject a paralyzing venom. The hollow jaws then draw out the body fluids of the pest, killing it. Of all available commercial predators, this lacewing is the most voracious and has the greatest versatility for aphid control in field crops, orchards, and greenhouses.