ENY 3005 Family Identification

Neuroptera: Chrysopidae

Common name: green lacewings
 

Identifying characteristics for the family Chrysopidae:

• Soft, green-bodied insects with copper-colored eyes, long filiform antennae, and lacy wings.
• Chrysopids are the most abundant of the lacewings in Florida. Brown lacewings, family Hemerobiidae, are sometimes collected and can be recognized by their brown coloration and oval-shaped wings. Consult a textbook and carefully check the wing venation to identify the family of the less common lacewings.

• Adults of some species are predators of mites, while others feed on pollen or honeydew.
• Eggs are laid on long stalks, presumably reducing cannibalism among newly hatched siblings.


• Larvae have long sickle-like mandibles and are voracious predators. Some species, commonly called trashbugs, pile debris on their back as they move around.

• Pages 144 in D. J. Borror and R. E. White. 1970. A Field Guide to the Insects. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co.
• Page 365 in D. J. Borror, C. A. Triplehorn, and N. F. Johnson. 1989. An Introduction to the Study of Insects, 6th ed. Philadelphia: Saunders College Publishing. 875 p.
• Page 244 in R. G. Bland and H. E. Jaques. 1978. How to Know the Insects, 3rd ed. Dubuque, Iowa: Wm. C. Brown Co. 409 p.
• Page 452 in H. V. Daly, J. T. Doyen, and A. H. Purcell III. 1998. Introduction to Insect Biology and Diversity, 2nd ed. Oxford University Press. 680 p.

Links to other web sites

• NeuroWeb - Neuropterists Home Page