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How to identify it
- Like other green lacewings, the adult has a soft, narrow body, long threadlike antennae, coppery or golden eyes, and lacy, finely veined wings that fold rooflike over the body. Most green lacewings are pale green.[1]
- In the University of Florida key to green lacewing genera, Chrysopa adults have broad wings and small eyes, the gradate cross veins of the wings are often dark brown, and the pronotum usually has red or orange bands along its edges. In Chrysoperla those cross veins are usually green and the pronotum lacks the bands.[2]
- The larvae do not carry debris on their backs. Chrysopa larvae have three or four black or reddish spots on the head, while Chrysoperla larvae have two prominent, elongate black spots.[2]
Look-alikes
| Look-alike | How to tell them apart |
|---|---|
| Common green lacewings (Chrysoperla species) | These are the lacewings sold for biological control. Chrysoperla adults feed on nectar and pollen rather than prey. In the University of Florida key their wing cross veins are usually green, the pronotum lacks red or orange edge bands, and their larvae have two elongate black spots on the head.[5][4][2] |
Where it lives
It is one of the Chrysopa species recorded in Florida, and USDA researchers studied wild adults in Maryland. Green lacewings as a group are common across Missouri.[2][4][1]
Biology and life cycle
Both larvae and adults are predators. Green lacewing larvae, often called aphid lions, seize aphids in their grooved, curved jaws, often lift them into the air, and drink the body fluids.[5][1]
As in other lacewings, the female lays each egg at the top of a threadlike stalk, which helps protect it from predators, including other lacewing larvae. Green lacewing larvae feed for 1 to 2 months before spinning round, white silk cocoons under leaves, and Missouri's green lacewings have several broods a year.[1]
Males release a compound called iridodial that strongly attracts both males and females. Around iridodial lures, adults gathered between dusk and dawn. Females lack the skin glands that make the compound and do not produce it.[3][4]
Males seem to need something from their food to make iridodial. Males reared in the laboratory made none unless they were fed nepetalactol, a component of the sex pheromone of aphids, and wild males collected in spring make less than males collected later in the season.[4]
Adult green lacewings have paired glands behind the head that are thought to produce defensive secretions, and skatole has been identified in Chrysopa secretions. Green lacewings can give off a foul odor when handled.[6][1]
Green lacewings rest in vegetation by day and become active around sunset. Like many flying insects, the adults come to lights at night.[1]
Chrysopa adults are harder to rear than Chrysoperla adults. Artificial diets exist for Chrysoperla adults, but suitable diets for Chrysopa adults are still being worked out, which limits their use in commercial biological control.[5][4]
Health risk
The Missouri Department of Conservation describes no risk to people from green lacewings, though they can give off a foul odor when handled.[1]
Control
Prevention
Leave it alone; it is a natural enemy of crop pests. Many lacewings are killed by bug zappers and other indiscriminate pest-control measures.[5][1]
Biological control
USDA researchers suggest that iridodial may be useful for inducing goldeneyed lacewings to lay eggs in targeted plant patches for biological pest control.[3]
Common questions
- How is the goldeneyed lacewing different from the lacewings sold for biological control?
- The lacewings sold for release are Chrysoperla species, whose adults feed on nectar and pollen; only their larvae hunt. In Chrysopa species such as the goldeneyed lacewing, the adults are predators too.[5][4]
- What are the tiny eggs on hair-like stalks on my plants?
- Stalked eggs are unique to lacewings. The stalk helps protect the egg from predators, and the larva that hatches starts eating aphids and other small insects right away.[1]
- Why do lacewings show up at my porch light?
- Green lacewings rest in vegetation by day, become active around sunset and, like many flying insects, are attracted to lights at night.[1]
Sources
- Missouri Department of Conservation, “Green Lacewings (Field Guide).” mdc.mo.gov/discover-nature/field-guide/green-lacewings (accessed 2026-11-09)
- University of Florida IFAS Extension (Featured Creatures), “Green Lacewings (of Florida), Neuroptera: Chrysopidae, EENY-534 (L. A. Stange; published October 2012).” journals.flvc.org/edis/article/view/120296 (accessed 2026-11-09)
- Journal of Economic Entomology (Entomological Society of America), indexed in PubMed (PMID 18232390), “Chauhan, Levi, Zhang and Aldrich. Female Goldeneyed Lacewings (Neuroptera: Chrysopidae) Approach but Seldom Enter Traps Baited with the Male-Produced Compound Iridodial. Journal of Economic Entomology 100: 1751-1755 (2007) (abstract).” pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18232390/ (accessed 2026-11-09)
- PeerJ, full text in PubMed Central (PMC4727961), “Aldrich, Chauhan and Zhang. Pharmacophagy in Green Lacewings (Neuroptera: Chrysopidae: Chrysopa spp.)? PeerJ 4: e1564 (2016), doi:10.7717/peerj.1564.” doi.org/10.7717/peerj.1564 (accessed 2026-11-09)
- Environmental Entomology (Entomological Society of America), indexed in PubMed (PMID 41736558), “Sigdel and Amarasekare. Artificial Adult Diet for Chrysopa oculata (Neuroptera: Chrysopidae) to Overcome the Barriers to Rearing Predatory Adult Green Lacewings. Environmental Entomology 55: nvag012 (2026), doi:10.1093/ee/nvag012 (abstract).” doi.org/10.1093/ee/nvag012 (accessed 2026-11-09)
- Journal of Chemical Ecology (Springer), indexed in PubMed (PMID 19844760), “Aldrich, Le, Zhang, Torres et al. Prothoracic Gland Semiochemicals of Green Lacewings. Journal of Chemical Ecology 35: 1181-1187 (2009), doi:10.1007/s10886-009-9701-x (abstract).” doi.org/10.1007/s10886-009-9701-x (accessed 2026-11-09)
- iNaturalist, “Chrysopa oculata taxon page (order and family).” www.inaturalist.org/taxa/146945 (accessed 2026-11-09)