Lacewings are one of the most important pest controllers and beneficial insects in the world. Here, we tell you everything you might like to know about them.
A common generalist predator in North America, Lacewings are considered to be a gardener’s friend.
There are about 1300 species of lacewings spread across 87 different genera around the world.
Lacewings are one of the most economically important families under the order Neuroptera, thanks to their ability to keep pest populations in control.
Let’s dive into it right away and find out more about these helpful insects.
What Are Lacewings?
Lacewings are a large group of insects under the order Neuroptera, known for their insectivorous feeding habit.
They feed on a variety of common garden and agricultural pests during the larval stage of their lives.
While there are more than a thousand different species of lacewings, we can broadly divide them into two families – green lacewings and brown lacewings.
All lacewing species share several common characteristics, such as chewing mouthparts and two pairs of wings.
Divided into three segments like all other insects, their long and thin bodies are akin to that of a dragonfly.
However, unlike dragonflies, lacewings keep their wings folded over their backs. These insects earn their name from the veins that crisscross their transparent wings to create a lacy appearance.
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Types of lacewings
Green lacewings
When talking about lacewings, people usually mean the green lacewing family.
They’re much more common than brown lacewings and are often called “common green lacewings” and “common lacewings.”
Scientifically known as Chrysopidae, this family comprises several genera, among which Chrysopa and Chrysoperla are the most common in North America and Europe.
Green lacewings grow up to 0.50 to 0.75 inches and feature a slender, greenish body with delicate and long antennae.
They have copper-colored eyes that have earned them the name “golden-eyed lacewing,” too. Another common name for the green lacewing is “stink fly”, thanks to the unpleasant odor they release in self-defense.
Many species of green lacewings turn brown as they age, which makes them impossible to distinguish from brown lacewings visually.
Brown Lacewings
These lacewings belong to the family Hemerobiidae and share a similar appearance as green lacewings apart from the color difference.
They have brown bodies, as their name indicates. The wings may sometimes have dark spots too. Like green lacewings, the brown ones feed on various common plant pests too.
However, they are relatively rarer, and the chances of sighting them in your garden are lower too.
The brown lacewing larva displays an interesting behavior – it carries various debris, including bits of its prey, using hooks and bristles on its back.
Such behavior has led to people commonly referring to these insects as the “trash bug”. By camouflaging themselves with the debris, brown lacewings can stay hidden from predators and prey alike.
How To Identify Green Lacewings That Have Turned Brown?
Some species of green lacewings change their color as they age, taking up a reddish, grayish, or brown shade.
This usually occurs during early spring, making it difficult to distinguish the color-changing species from the actual brown lacewings.
Here are some other differences between brown and green lacewings besides their colors:
- The coastal cross veins on the wings of a brown lacewing are Y-shaped, while a green lacewing has straight and unbranched coastal cross veins.
- In brown lacewings, the first abdominal segment is longer than the second and third ones. This makes their necks more prominent as compared to green lacewings.
- Green lacewing larvae have an empodium (a trumpet-like appendage) between their tarsal claws and the end of their feet. This appendage is missing in brown lacewings.
Where Do lacewings Live?
Thankfully, these natural predators are present all over the world. You can find different lacewing species throughout North America.
The US and Canada house 87 different species of lacewings distributed across 14 genera.
As for their habitat, lacewings typically prefer plenty of vegetation. You’ll usually find them in wildlands, gardens, tree crops, farmlands, and fields.
This is because the adult lacewing lives on a diet comprising nectar, honeydew, and yeasts – all of which they have to collect from plants.
What Do They Eat?
It’s the feeding habit of the lacewing larvae that make these insects so beneficial.
Also known as aphid lions and aphid wolves due to their ability to eat hundreds of aphids, they feed on a variety of soft-bodied insects.
These include common garden pests like aphids, mites, caterpillars, mealybugs, leafhoppers, lace bugs, thrips, scales, etc.
Although not all lacewing species display an equally impressive appetite, many of the common ones can eat up to 200 aphids in a single week.
The Green lacewing adult usually feeds on plant-based foods like pollen, nectar, and honeydew.
However, some of them are predaceous and also prey on the soft-bodied insects mentioned earlier.
The brown lacewing adult and larvae are both insectivorous and can help with pest control too.
What is the Lifecycle of Lacewings?
Lacewings have a rather short lifespan, ranging from about six to ten weeks in total.
They undergo a full metamorphosis, consisting of four life cycle stages like other insect species, emerging as larvae and pupating into adults.
- Eggs: Adult female lacewings lay about 100 to 300 eggs on average, usually on plant hairs or underneath leaves. Although a green lacewing egg is an initially pale green, it turns gray before hatching.
- Larvae: This is the most important stage in the lacewing’s role as a natural pest control agent. Lacewing larvae range from yellow to brown, with a mottled appearance. Their spindle-shaped structure is somewhat similar to that of alligators, and they even have spines at the sides. Lacewing larvae possess strong mouthparts that allow them to kill their prey and inject them with digestive juices.
- Pupae: After three instars and two to three weeks of development, the lacewing larvae are mature and ready to pupate. Lacewing pupae are usually green, surrounded by opaque, silken cocoons that are yellow or white. This stage lasts around five days.
- Adults: The adults emerge at the end of pupation and live for 20 to 40 days. As mentioned earlier, they have green or brown bodies and large eyes. During the few weeks, they spend as adults, the lacewings mate and lay eggs for the next generation to hatch from.
Where Do They Lay Eggs?
Female lacewings might lay the eggs in groups or singly. Many species of female lacewings lay them individually on the tips of stalks.
This helps prevent the newborn larvae from resorting to cannibalism. You may also find clusters of lacewing eggs around prey infestations.
Do They Bite or Sting?
Lacewings do not possess stingers and are, therefore, incapable of stinging. However, their bites are still painful and can cause a red and itchy bump on the skin.
This isn’t anything serious, and you’ll lose the bump and the discomfort within a day.
Adult lacewings don’t bite humans very often, but the larvae might get provoked if you come in contact with them while working in the garden.
Are They Poisonous or Venomous?
Although their bite can be painful, lacewings aren’t venomous or poisonous. The itchiness and the bump are caused by the caustic acid in their saliva.
Although the saliva is corrosive enough to break down their prey and make them more digestible, it doesn’t pose much of a threat to humans.
Are They Harmful to Humans as Pests?
Lacewings are quite the opposite of what we’d define as a pest. Many gardeners even buy lacewings or raise them from eggs to use for pest control purposes.
With their seemingly insatiable appetite and their tendency to lay hundreds of eggs, lacewings can quickly clamp down on garden pests.
If you find lacewing eggs in your garden, you can spread them around plants prone to pest infestations.
Can They Come Inside Homes?
Lacewings generally tend to live outdoors, where they can easily find suitable food sources.
However, the adults often enter homes in autumn and winter, drawn by the warmth.
They seek cozy hibernation sites around this time, and warm indoor environments are perfect for this.
What Are Lacewings Attracted To?
Adult lacewings are typically drawn to places with a variety of colorful flowers. As mentioned previously, they need pollen and nectar to sustain themselves.
If you’re trying to attract more lacewings to your garden, planting flowers like Queen Anne’s lace, goldenrod, marguerite daisies, cosmos, and yarrow should help.
How To Get Rid of lacewings?
You don’t need to get rid of lacewings from your garden as they’re harmless and help protect your plants from pests.
However, if too many of them start entering your home during the colder months, it might pose a problem. The best way to get rid of them is to pick them up by the wings and gently release them outside.
If there are too many lacewings for manual removal, you may consider using pest control products instead.
Interesting Facts About lacewings
Before I end finish, here are some interesting facts about these delicate insects that you might want to know:
- Lacewings kill their prey by piercing them with needle-like teeth and injecting digestive juices. The juices dissolve the prey’s body from the inside, which the lacewing can then suck up.
- Adults have ears located at the base of their wings and are capable of hearing the echolocation signals released by bats. This gives them time to close up their wings and potentially avoid detection.
- When lacewings feel threatened, they release an unpleasant smell. It helps them deter predators from eating them.
Wrapping Up
I hope you enjoyed learning about this delicate insect and that the article has answered all the queries you had about them.
If you’re a plant parent, feel free to get some lacewings in your garden. By feeding on adult pests, their larvae, and insect eggs alike, they’ll significantly reduce your pest control expenses.
You’ll have to stay away from using pesticides, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Thank you for reading, and I hope you’ll manage to include lacewings in your pest control strategy.
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| Antlion | Ribbon Winged Lacewing |
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26 Comments.
yes even though my name is lace these little guys are my nemesis. while much to my mom’s dismay i go out of my way to even relocate black widows out of my house, (hobo spiders are another story with my kidney disease), i have to say that i have been bitten by more “harmless” lacewings than anything else. while their bite doesn’t hurt very bad it does cause me nasty nasty hives and some shortness of breath if benedryl isn’t taken quickly. the little buggers have claimed my front porch, and while i won’t spray them i have been known to slap one for bitting, although mostly i try and flick them away when they land on me without causing them harm. they bite anyone who dares to come on my porch after dark. granted no one else gets hives, but the bites aren’t fun. (i refuse to sweep even empty spiderwebs away in hopes that more lacewings get trapped)
i use this site all the time, it has been most helpful in satisfying my creepy crawly curiosity, including helping identify the first ever California harvester ant that i have ever seen in my thirty years living at this location. i just want to say that what may be harmless for you may not be harmless for everyone else. lacewings seem to bite with no provocation either. i’m sure my allergy is rare, but i know by my hives and the squeals of those bitten that they aren’t quite harmless.
Thanks for providing your perspective on this. A member of our editorial staff was recently bitten, twice, by a Lacewing Larva, and a tiny welt did appear and it itched for approximately 24 hours. As more and more information gets disseminated at an ever quicker rate, we are learning that many things we once believed are being proven to have been misconceptions. More and more allergies are being revealed, and it is shocking the number of people who are allergic to the once innocuous peanut that formerly formed a staple for so many school lunches. Many years ago, we began to form a radical theory that Mother Nature is fighting back because of the way humans are destroying the planet. In the future, we will try to qualify our claims that things are relatively harmless, beginning with this posting.
thank you very much for acknowledging that the little buggers bite. i happen to be the. 001% for many allergies including about twenty rx meds to date. i am also allergic to aloe which is quickly becoming a problem because companies are putting it in everything, including the gloves my hospital uses, and many foods. they think it’s beneficial and can charge more for my hives. Aloe allergies are quite common but no one seems to notice it. In my family we even have metal allergies, while i only get a small rash from certain metals my aunt can actually stop a watch. granted my crazy allergies are probably connected to my auto immune disorder but everybody is allergic to something, they just haven’t been exposed to it yet.
i was originally leaning towards entomology as a kid but the oil spills during my childhood made me want to focus on marine invertabrates. Alas my health has prevented both, but i can still explore the critters in my yard. My mom is deathly afraid of spiders and was determined not to pass on her fears to me she seems to have done too good of a job. Aside from recurring nightmares of Swarming wasps and bees i love all the little guys. ill have to add my story of being in the middle of two warring nests of European paper wasps another day.
thank you so much for this site. it makes my days a science project.
We just posted a nice photo of a European Paper Wasp. Should you decide to post your anecdote in the future, please comment on a Paper Wasp image.
Tallante, Murcia, Spain. Have seen many Nemoptera bipennis in recent weeks and have some good photos although in 14 years living here had not noticed them before. I have spent many hours trying to identify and thank goodness, eventually found your website. Thanks! Will study in more detail now I have a name. They are beautiful, delicate creatures.
You may submit your images using the Ask What’s That Bug? link on our site.
i think I saw one this morning! Is there a way for me to post a picture so you can determine if it is the same thing?
You can send an image by using the Ask What’s That Bug? link on our site.
I got bite twice on my toe by one of these things it feels like a fire ant bite, I have seen 2 so far here, my bite has a clear watery substance coming out of the bites are they poisonous to humans
I just moved to Sulphur Louisiana
Though there might be a reaction to the bites, to the best of our knowledge, the bite of a Lacewing Larva is not poisonous.
I got bite twice on my toe by one of these things it feels like a fire ant bite, I have seen 2 so far here, my bite has a clear watery substance coming out of the bites are they poisonous to humans
I just moved to Sulphur Louisiana
My husband and I found a Lace Wing Larva in our house the other night. My husband found it. Thought at first he had found a lightning bug, because he was flashing. We scooped him up and examined him further. The flash was caused by a sequin he had attached to himself that flashed in the light as he walked along. He was mostly covered with ants. I put him in a container so I could show my kids and grandchildren the next day. My son-in-law looked at him through his cell phone. Apparently the little junk bug was conscious that we were doing something that he perceived as a threat. He took one of his ants off and shook it at us several times. Place it again on his back then get it again and shake it again, as if to say “Nah Nah Nay, Aren’t you scared of me… I have ants that should scare you.”
That bit of spunk made me fall in love with him, if you can believe that…I made sure to quickly release him hoping no harm was done to him. He was both worried and scared but still stood up for himself as best he could.
My husband and I found a Lace Wing Larva in our house the other night. My husband found it. Thought at first he had found a lightning bug, because he was flashing. We scooped him up and examined him further. The flash was caused by a sequin he had attached to himself that flashed in the light as he walked along. He was mostly covered with ants. I put him in a container so I could show my kids and grandchildren the next day. My son-in-law looked at him through his cell phone. Apparently the little junk bug was conscious that we were doing something that he perceived as a threat. He took one of his ants off and shook it at us several times. Place it again on his back then get it again and shake it again, as if to say “Nah Nah Nay, Aren’t you scared of me… I have ants that should scare you.”
That bit of spunk made me fall in love with him, if you can believe that…I made sure to quickly release him hoping no harm was done to him. He was both worried and scared but still stood up for himself as best he could.
Thanks for the awesome personal account.
Oh, I forgot, he had placed a sequin from one of my blouses on top of approximately where his head would be. That was what was flashing. It looked like a hat. It was just amazing to see this little fellow. I will never forget the little “Junk Bug”. (this is not a reply, but a continuation of the story I was telling above. Paula B
You don’t by chance have any images do you? Please submit using the Ask What’s That Bug? link on our site.
I have a pest that looks like a cigarette ash…it jumps and bites like a flea,it lays eggs and feces. It has literally plagued us. Please help!
Chyma!!!!!!!! I know!!! I suspect the wisping cigarette ash to be of fungal or parasitic in its making. Mind over matter & treat the gut environment, the skin & your emvironment. I’m doing this daily, & it takes hours. Launder articles after each use!
Saw one of these shuffling along on a rustic table next to two moss covered trees that our deck is built around. This is in Wilmington NC, about 2 blocks from the Cape Fear river. We are in a area which is the border between tropical and artic (zone 8?) Lots of weird bugs and plants such as Venus Fly Traps. Love your site!
Thank you for this information! I too have been bitten and it felt like fire! I was bitten yesterday (June24) and this bite is itchy and I have a slight feverish lump under the bite mark. It acts like that of a wasp or bee sting. Ouch! I’ve been watching it closely and so far no change. Just itchy.
Also I live in South Georgia
Is Greek lacewings rare??
Just seen it on Samos
Is Greek lacewings rare??
Just seen it on Samos
I just seen one this morning 6/6/20 in El Dorado, Ar. Thanks for the info! My girlfriend was about to pick it up. Lol
I see these in my backyard crawling on my patio table and around it and felt a bite on my ankle and looked down to swipe it off. Itchy and red mark the size of a large pea remains after two weeks
I live in Jacksonville Florida