About the insect
I am breaking from the aphid theme for one post, because I wanted to share these photos of an important aphid predator, Chrysoperla rufilabris. These green lacewings (Order Neuroptera, Family Chrysopidae) are predators of aphids and many other insects as larvae but feed mostly on pollen and nectar as adults. I have no larvae pictures here unfortunately, though they are fascinating little creatures. The adults are quite pretty and are often found near lights at night. Green lacewings may be purchased as biological control agents for gardens or greenhouses and will feed on aphids, butterfly and moth eggs and larvae, and just about anything else they can pierce with their sickle-shaped jaws. My undergraduate honors thesis focused on how green lacewing larvae can feed on monarch butterfly eggs and larvae, a natural interaction but potentially undesirable consequence of releasing them in gardens. Still, they and other biological control agents are a preferable choice to broad-spectrum insecticides when trying to sustainably control pests.
About the photos
The photos showing the whole insect’s body were taken with a regular macro lens, while the two photos highlighting the eyes were taken with the same setup I use for the aphids. I released them inside a plexiglass cage with white office paper taped to two walls and the ceiling, and waited for them to land before taking any pictures. Several of the photos were actually taken upside down and then rotated, since they rarely stood still in any other position. As with the aphids, I did not cool them down to make them more cooperative, though I was tempted after they kept flying away. These two lacewings (one male, one female) were loaned by a colleague studying their diet breadth visiting the Heimpel Lab from Brazil, Michela Matos.
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