All About Green Lacewings: Identification and Control Tips

Author: Emma Grace Crumbley, Entomologist

Not all bugs in your backyard are pesky or dangerous – some insects actually help keep the pests in your yard under control! One of the most widespread and celebrated beneficial insects is the Green Lacewing. These small, dainty insects do an incredible job protecting your yard from pests and promoting your flowers through pollination. 

 What is a Green Lacewing?

Green lacewings (Chrysopidae sp.) are members of the order Neuroptera, the order for predatory, “net-winged” insects. Relatives of ant lions and owlflies, green lacewings have transparent wings with lots of veins, giving their wings a netted or lacy appearance. These insects are small, usually measuring ½ to ¾ inch long, and their wings are longer than their slender green or brown bodies.

If you've never seen a lacewing before, you're not alone. Green lacewings are nocturnal and are usually seen at night, flying near light sources. During the day, you may spot a green lacewing at rest against the side of the home or in a grassy patch of your yard, though it's rare.

Nature’s Pest Control

Just like butterflies or ladybugs, green lacewings undergo complete metamorphosis, meaning they develop as an egg, a larva, a pupa, and an adult. The eggs of green lacewings are incredibly unique. Each tiny, oval egg, measuring about 1/16 inch, is carefully laid on a long silk stalk produced by the adult lacewing. After a few days, the larvae hatch out of the eggs and begin searching for food. Green lacewing larvae are predacious and will eat several small garden pests: aphids, mealybugs, spider mites, leafhopper nymphs, moth eggs, scales, thrips, whiteflies, etc.

Because of their voracious appetite for small arthropods, green lacewing larvae provide excellent, natural pest control services around your yard. Scientists estimate that one lacewing larva can eat anywhere from 100 to 600 aphids during their development over the course of several weeks, which indicates effective aphid control on plants like peppers, potatoes, and tomatoes (plants that don’t have too many spines or spikes that hide aphids or hurt lacewing larvae). Other research from LSU shows that “during the two-week larval stage, a single green lacewing larva can consume approximately 250 leafhopper nymphs in grapes, as well as 300-400 aphids, 11,200 spider mites, 3,780 coccid scale crawlers or 6,500 scale eggs on pine trees.”

An Unlikely Pollinator

After lacewing larvae form their silken cocoons, they pupate to adult lacewings within a few weeks. While they fed exclusively on prey insects as larvae, adult lacewings prefer a different diet: nectar, pollen, and honeydew (a sweet secretion from some insects, like aphids). Some species of lacewings, like brown lacewings, are still predatory adults. The more common green lacewing, however, is only concerned with flowering plants and the nectar they provide. 

Though not as efficient as bees or butterflies, lacewings do provide some pollination services in the environments they inhabit. Similar to moths, adult lacewings are nocturnal pollinators, opting for wildflowers and native flowering plants like milkweed.

Green Lacewing Control

Most entomologists and gardeners will agree that having green lacewings is a great thing for your plants. However, sometimes there can be too much of a good thing, as is the case with green lacewing infestations or population booms. The best way to control green lacewings is to control their food source. Remember, if you see lots of lacewings around your yard, it means there are plenty of plant pests like mites or scale bugs that the lacewing larvae are feeding on.

To remove plant pests and decrease lacewing prey, take careful care of the plants around your yard:

• Dust Your Plants

Some pests like spider mites and mealybugs leave behind fine silk webbing or white waxy coatings on plants. This webbing and coating is a sign of a garden pest problem, and frequently removing it and dusting your plants will discourage spider mites and mealybugs from feeding and congregating. 

•  Wash Your Plants

If dusting does not help, spraying plants with plain water might. Some online sources recommend mixing water with soap and rubbing alcohol, but these mixtures can damage the plant if overapplied or made with harsh ingredients. Routine washing with plain water should work well.

• Remove Heavily Infested Plant Material

If dusting fails and watering doesn’t work, it's time to thin out the infested material in your garden. Pruning heavily infested stems and branches can help physically remove garden pests, and keeping your yard free of lawn clippings and old organic material can reduce cryptic areas of infestation.

Ultimately, you want to avoid using chemicals or broad-spectrum sprays when controlling green lacewings. While these treatments will definitely knock down your lacewing population, they may also knock down other beneficial insects as well if misapplied or in too high a concentration. For yard treatments and product recommendations, contact a Mosquito Squad Plus location near you.

Not Sure What’s Bugging You?

Not to fear! The experts at Mosquito Squad Plus are here! Our highly trained technicians are knowledgeable about the pests and pollinators that live in your backyard. And with each Mosquito Squad Plus location being locally owned and operated, our technicians treat your yard like it’s their own. Services vary by location. Call today for a free quote and to learn about the expanded pest control services near you!