GREEN LACEWINGSAKA STINK FLIES (Family: Chrysopidae)

GREEN LACEWINGS AKA STINK FLIES (Family: Chrysopidae) Although these beautiful vein-winged bugs

look delicate, their larva are rapacious

predators.

Do you know what is touted as

"The Best General Purpose Predator for

Gardens and Greenhouses"? The lacewing.

And, in particular, their larva. You can buy

them online. The lacewing is also referred

to by some as a stinkfly because they have

a defence of emitting a nasty odour. The

female green lacewing has a wonderful egg

laying technique whereby she excretes a row

of slender stalks and deposits one egg on

top of each stalk.

The "Checklist of Insects of

Hong Kong" actually lists 14 different species

of lacewing, but there are an estimated 20 species in the family Chrysopidae, and 29 in the Order Neuroptera.

The network of veins or

the subtle suffusions of colour can help in

identifying different species.

The larvae create a cover with the remains of

dead aphids and other tiny animals, as well

as other materials, to remain inconspicuous.

A real lion in aphids' clothing.

Reminds me

of something from the baddies in Mad Max

movies, where they put the skeletons of their

victims on their cars… or the Kree Reapers.

The larvae are active predators of softbodied

insect pests: aphids, thrips, whitefly,

leafhoppers, spider mites (especially red

mites) and mealybugs. They feed for 2–3

weeks, spin a cocoon, and emerge as adults

10–14 days later.

SEE THEM: Look for the larvae on tree

trunks, and the adults flying at night in May

and June. Chrysopid larvae can also be found

on handrails.

And here with a bit of help of AI are the eggs laid as eyelashes on a statue .... which i actually saw a photo of many years ago....