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Melinda Myers
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Pretty to look at but scary to see, if you’re an aphid that is. The green lacewing is an important predator of soft-bodied insects like aphids, mealybugs, small caterpillars and more.
The adult green lacewing is about ¾ of an inch long. It’s light green with lacy wings and two large golden eyes. You may see them feeding on flowers, eating pollen and nectar or near a colony of aphids eating the clear sticky honeydew the aphids secrete. This is also a prime location for laying their eggs; each egg perched upon a thin upright filament attached to the plant.
The immature stage, known as an aphid lion, is brown and white with a protruding hooked jaw and resembles an alligator. They are voracious feeders, eating one hundred or more aphids in a week, along with spiders, mealy bugs, whiteflies, small caterpillars and more.
A bit more information: The lacewing’s unique egg laying helps reduce cannibalism among sibling larvae. They also deposit their eggs close to their prey, so the larvae have easy access to food.