Of the two thousand representatives of the entire Chrysopidae family, the most famous is the common lacewing, a small predatory insect with a wingspan of up to 3 cm. Its pest-eating larvae are of great benefit in agriculture. To this end, many gardeners specifically settle the lacewing in their plots.
Appearance
This insect has large compound eyes of golden color, for which it received such an interesting name. The body is green. A light green stripe is clearly visible on its upper part.
Common lacewing Chrysopa perla - the owner of exquisite pale green wings. They are completely transparent, and many of the finest veins are clearly visible through them. The adult has a slender abdomen, three pairs of legs and long movable antennae.
The larva is a light coffee color, has sharp curved jaws, giving out a real predator in it. On a wingless worm-like body, covered with warts and hairs, you can see small eyes. Its length is about 7 mm.
The common lacewing has a very good response to ultrasound. Hearing him, she instantly folds her wings and falls to the ground, thus escaping from bats.
Habitats
This insect is common in various regions - almost throughout Europe, with the exception of the northern part, North Africa, Southwest Asia. The main places where it can be found are mixed forests, parks and gardens.
Ordinary lacewing, saving nutrients, hibernates in some crack or hollow of a tree. And also it can be found at this time of the year in a room, somewhere behind a closet or a picture.
In spring, insects fly to the hazel, willow and flowering gardens.
Development
For a rather short life, which is about 2 months, the common lacewing makes two clutches, usually not far from where the aphids live. Each of them can contain from 100 to 900 eggs. They are green at first, but gradually darken.
Eggs are attached to a narrow stem up to 3 mm long and then become like some kind of mushroom buds. To make such a stalk, the lacewing presses the end of the abdomen to the leaf and distributes a thick, rapidly solidifying drop of liquid, which it then draws out, while raising the abdomen.
The next stage is the larva. Develops within 2-3 weeks. Hatching, she immediately sheds andstarts eating. It can eat almost a hundred aphids a day.
Further, using its silk, the larva spins an oval cocoon and proceeds to the next stage - prepupa. She is practically no different, but already has the makings of two pairs of wings.
During the next molt (after 3-4 days) it turns into a chrysalis, which, after about a week, cuts a certain door at the cell and crawls out. Then it attaches itself to the cocoon and after five minutes a beautiful creature is born, which soon becomes a florist.
In warm regions, the common lacewing develops rapidly, and that is why four generations are replaced in one year, and up to eight in the subtropical zone. But in the north, only one offspring appears.
Food
The larvae of this species, in addition to aphids, also feed on worms, various plant and spider mites, caterpillars, insect eggs, including the Colorado potato beetle. But still, the most favorite delicacy for them is pea aphids. Apparently, due to the fact that the latter contains a lot of protein in its diet.
And in order to disguise itself and protect itself from the sun, the larva takes the sucked skin of the victim onto its back, adding grains of sand, pieces of moss, bark, and builds a cover for itself.
Adult common lacewing collects pollen from flowers, leaves and stems. This interesting fact was proved by the scientist E. K. Grinfeld by planting several pieces of butterflies in a jar and then pouring pollen into it. Insects knocked against the glass and lost the scales of their wings. WhenGreenfeld released them, he put a small bouquet, and then let the lacewings in. Later, in their intestines, he found the remains of scales along with pollen.
That is why the fleurnica has a beneficial effect on plants, being engaged in cross-pollination. They also collect dew, drink juice from the fruits of apples, pears and grapes.
However, not all individuals of this species are civilians. Many of them keep their larval habits and go hunting. They destroy aphids and various pests much more than the larvae themselves, as they live much longer than them.
Human benefits
The lacewing larva is used in pest control, and the effectiveness depends on the number of populations of the latter. Best results are achieved with low (medium) insect density.
Common lacewing, the photo of which is in this article, settles up to 3-4 times a month so that there are from 10 to 15 insects per square meter. With an increase in the number of pests, the population density of the lacewing increases, because with a shortage of food, voracious larvae can attack beneficial insects or their own relatives.
