Loose Lacewing Eggs Loose eggs are available straight or mixed with rice hulls as a disbursement or carrier material and reddish-brown food (frozen moth eggs) for early hatching larvae to eat before they are sprinkled or broadcast. Corn grit is a finer disbursement medium, but can dehydrate eggs and larvae if mixed too soon before release. It also has angular corners that can injure the young larvae.

Eggs hatch one to four days after delivery (eggs change color from green to gray-white on hatching). Holding eggs in an insulated box with a hot water bottle (80-90º F) and adequate air space speeds hatching. Release eggs when small larva are seen inside the bag or carton. Sprinkle some rice hulls (or other carrier) onto a white piece of paper. Wait a minute, then pour the rice hulls back into the bag. Larva will be evident walking on the paper. Release in early morning or evening and on misted foliage if possible and not in the presence of ants.

Sprinkle eggs as close to pest infestations as possible or place small amounts of eggs into paper cups and staple to leaves. A gasoline powered backpack sprayer, our bioapplicator, can be used to distribute lacewing eggs onto trees, vines, and row crops. See below.

Green Lacewing Technical Bulletin

Description:

A beneficial predatory insect that attacks insects and insect eggs, such as aphids, small caterpillars, mites, whitefly, scale, mealybug, thrips, psyllids, and other soft-bodied insects.

Chrysoperla rufilabris  

Lifecycle: At 80º F (27º C), larvae emerge from eggs in 3 to 5 days from date of shipment. Larvae can walk up to 7 miles. They move from plant to plant if leaves are touching - slower on rough or hairy foliage. For each 5 degrees higher temperature, larvae will clean up aphid infestations a week sooner (higher metabolism makes them eat more). Temperature of at least 60º F (15.5º C) is required for significant eating and egg-laying.

Larvae are predators for 2 weeks (or longer if nights are cool).

Cocoons yield adult green lacewing in about 5 days.

Adult lacewing migrate toward nectar, pollen or insect honeydew before laying eggs. Sugar sources attract adults.

Eggs are laid on hair-like filaments – up to 600 eggs per adult

 Release guidelines:

On slow-growing plants: one larvae for each 50 prey

On fast-growing plants: one larvae for each ten prey

On aphids in greenhouse flats: five to 20 hatching eggs per square yard

In orchards and row crops: 2,000 to 30,000 hatching eggs released two to four times every seven to 14 days

Frequency and quantity of releases also vary with size and type of plant, number and type of pests, other predator and parasite populations, and temperature.

 To hold for later release: If you think you will need to hold the larvae for more than a day, you can order frozen sitotroga eggs to feed them (when you order the lacewing larvae). Place the honeycomb unit on a flat surface. Sprinkle the eggs on top of the organdy material on the honeycomb. The larvae will reach through the material to feed on the eggs. Once a day tap off the eggs onto a piece of paper and sprinkle then back onto the top (to redistribute the eggs). Do not refrigerate. Refrigeration at this stage could damage the developing larvae.

 Handling Lacewing Eggs:

• Keep warm (75º to 90º F) [24º to 32º C] but out of direct sun and away from heaters that dry the air.Maintain relative humidity at 30-50% (not in plastic). Check each morning for emergence.If no larvae appear within 5 days of shipping date at 75º to 90º F, call supplier.Release within 24 hours of first signs of emergence.Sprinkle or blow into foliage or fasten cups or cards as close as possible to infestations.

• Distribute as widely as possible.

Lacewing Packaging Options:

• Loose eggs in increments of 5,000 and 10,000 in bags or cups with or without rice hulls or vermiculite and food.

• Eggs glued on cards (2,500, 5,000, or 10,000/card) perforated to cut into 30 hangable units.

• Pre-hatched larvae in cardboard honeycomb units (500 larvae/unit) come as first instar (young and small) or third instar (larger, faster and hungrier, that pupate sooner).

• Pre-hatched larvae 1,000/bottle in rice hulls (2 week notice required).

• Adults in cartons of 100 or 250 mated females with about 6 to 20 days of egg-laying capacity depending on temperature (must ship overnight).

Watch out that you don’t feed your lacewings to the ants - ask about RVI’s ant management products, such as AntPro boric acid sugar bait dispenser and bait mix.

 GREEN LACEWINGS: NATURE’S BEST PREDATOR

Green lacewings are proven broad-spectrum biological control agents, devouring eggs and young larvae of Colorado potato beetles, flea beetles, most caterpillar (worm) pests (armyworms, budworms, bollworms, borers, corn earworms, cabbage loopers, codling moths, etc.), aphids, spider mites, scales, psyllids, mealybugs, whiteflies, thrips, leafhoppers and other pests. Adult green lacewings have light green bodies, golden eyes, lacy wings and are vegetarian - they eat pollen and nectar. Lacewing adults live longer and lay more eggs when provided nectar, pollen and insect honeydews. Eggs are laid in foliage on the tips of silk stalks. The grayish-brown larvae resemble miniature alligators, and are 3/8 inch long when full-grown. Larvae search out pests, and use their pincer-like jaws to seize, inject digestive enzymes, and suck juices out of pests.

During 2-3 weeks of life, one lone lacewing larva can consume 250 leafhopper nymphs in grapes (4th-5th instar), 300-400 aphids, 11,200 spider mites, 3,780 coccid scale crawlers or 6,500 scale eggs on pine trees. Interfering ants, waxy coatings or hard shells on pests and low temperatures deter lacewings from dining on and destroying pests.

About 1,200 green lacewing species are known worldwide. We currently offer Chrysoperla rufilabris.

CHRYSOPERLA RUFILABRIS is a reliable workhorse predator that has helped liberate many Rincon-Vitova clients from the pesticide treadmill over the last three decades. Best known in the Southern and Eastern U.S. for aphid control in tree (pecan) and field crops, C. rufilabris is also a valuable ally against tough pests like sweetpotato whitefly in cotton and crops from Texas to California. lacewing attacks over 100 insect and spider mite pests from lowland valleys to high mountainsand lay 10-30 eggs per day producing two to three generations per year.

Very light infestations of pests that make honeydew (e.g. whiteflies, mealybugs, aphids) should be tolerated, as they induce C. rufilabris to fly upwind into fields. Excellent egg laying stimulants include pea aphid honeydew and ice plant pollen.

Sunflower and corn borders provide shelter and dew water on hot summer days and corn pollen is a good late summer diet to encourage overwintering. Covercrops, weeds, dead leaf litter and bark are overwintering sites. Adults preparing to overwinter turn brownish-yellow and cluster together. German growers buy red or brown painted shelters stuffed with straw to attract overwintering lacewings.

LACEWING RELEASE BASICS

Since one lacewing can produce 40,000 progeny in 60 days, maximum benefits are obtained by starting releases very early in the season. A rough release rate is 5,000 to 50,000 green lacewings per acre per season or 1,000 per 2,500 square feet of garden. At least two early season releases two weeks apart are needed to foster overlapping generations (larvae, the pest-eating stage, are then most likely to be present). Populations are monitored by sweep net or vacuum sampling (D-Vac), counting eggs per random sample of plant material, or beating branches over trays for larvae. Rincon-Vitova ships green lacewings as eggs (loose or on cards or in bags), larvae (honeycomb units), pupae (honeycomb units), and adults.

Loose Lacewing Eggs Loose eggs are available straight or mixed with rice hulls as a disbursement or carrier material and reddish-brown food (frozen moth eggs) for early hatching larvae to eat before they are sprinkled or broadcast. Corn grit is a finer disbursement medium, but can dehydrate eggs and larvae if mixed too soon before release. It also has angular corners that can injure the young larvae.

Eggs hatch one to four days after delivery (eggs change color from green to gray-white on hatching). Holding eggs in an insulated box with a hot water bottle (80-90º F) and adequate air space speeds hatching. Release eggs when small larva are seen inside the bag or carton. Sprinkle some rice hulls (or other carrier) onto a white piece of paper. Wait a minute, then pour the rice hulls back into the bag. Larva will be evident walking on the paper. Release in early morning or evening and on misted foliage if possible and not in the presence of ants.

Sprinkle eggs as close to pest infestations as possible or place small amounts of eggs into paper cups and staple to leaves. A gasoline powered backpack sprayer, our bioapplicator, can be used to distribute lacewing eggs onto trees, vines, and row crops. See below.

Applying Lacewing Cards

Eggs may also be applied by salt shaker, squeeze bottle, leaf blower, vineyard cone funnel, ground rig, helicopter, fixed-winged aircraft, model airplane or balloon. Imagination is the only limit to developing distribution methods for loose eggs.

Lacewing Eggs on Cards Lacewing on cards are shipped with 2,500, 5,000 or 10,000 lacewing eggs glued on each card; cards are perforated to guide cutting or tearing into 30 of ¾ X 2 inch tabs with a hook on one end and containing about 86, 170 or 332 eggs. Cut and place tabs into vines, shrubs or trees when larvae begin to hatch. Tabs can also be placed inside small paper cups and either stapled to plants or hung by a knotted string (through bottom of cup). The cards can be further cut into smaller pieces for wider distribution.

  To separate the tabs from the card, fold the card at the perforations. Grasp the card on the margins and pull the tabs apart. Or use scissors to cut apart. This can be done beforehand and the tabs placed in paper bags or other containers to carry into the field. Try to do this as soon as possible after you receive them. If you have some flexibility as to when you put out the cards, hold the cards at room temperature or higher, up to 95º F. When you see the first larva hatching, place the cards on your plants. This is best because it minimizes the time they are exposed to predators.  

Open the hook and place on a twig or leaf of the plant to be protected. Place tabs on the sunny side of the tree covered by leaves a bit so they are not in the direct sun. Place as high in the plant as you can comfortably reach.

400 Lacewing Larvae in Honeycomb Units Lacewing larva feed on small prey such as mites and mite eggs for the first week before they are big enough to eat aphids. Pre-fed larvae in honeycomb offer a one week headstart (pest populations can double during a hot summer week) over eggs for combating pests. Also, larvae need less protection from ant predation than lacewing eggs. Releasing larvae on cool evenings and misting foliage may enhance survival. To release larvae, peel off the organdy cloth cover from the honeycomb unit a little bit at a time, and either tap larvae onto plants or use a fine paint brush to lift or brush Larvae onto plants (one larvae per mildly infested plant is a rough rule of thumb).

Larvae gobble up pests for two weeks before pupating, at which time a new generation of larvae may be released. Releasing 2nd instar larvae from coneycomb units provides the greatest and most immediate pest-eating action.

Adult Lacewings Adults are shipped in lots of 250-275 pre-fed females ready to lay eggs. Each unit has the potential to lay about 75,000 (C. rufilabris). Artificial diet may be needed to target adult egg laying and keep C. rufilabris in fields. Use Rincon-Vitova's Insect Food, or mix equal parts of dried brewer's yeast and sugar with water and spray on plants. Plants produce methyl salicylate (MeSA) when under attack by aphids. MeSA or wintergreen oil can be sprayed onto plants to draw in lacewing, ladybugs, and syrphid flies - aphid predators.

Lacewing Release Guidelines: Effective programs range from two to four releases seven to fourteen days apart at 1,000 or more eggs per 2,500 square feet or from 2,000 to 30,000 eggs per acre. With prefed larvae and adults, use 660 to 5,000 prefed larvae or 200 to 500 adults per acre or 100 trees.

Ants: are attracted to the eggs on the card. They will eat all the eggs on the card. Ants generally interfere with biological control, and in particular they attack and drive lacewing larvae away from aphids, whitefly, mealybug, and soft scale. These honeydew-secreting pests supply sweets to the ants. Put attention to controlling ants. One part of the strategy is to stick a shovel into ant mounds and disrupt the colony. Besides boric acid baits, two newer organic products that happen to help kill ants are Auntie Fuego soil conditioner and beneficial parasitic nematodes. Ask about our ant management products and information on Argentine ants.

Hot Spots: Pest outbreaks often occur in "hot spots" or edges of orchards or landscapes. Heat or dust from a road, exposure to nearby infested plants, or drying winds may shift the ecological balance of predator and prey in your plantings. Treating the hot spot or edge often is all that is needed to control the outbreak. The extent, situation, and location of the infested area will determine the best strategy.

Notes on Release of Hatching Lacewing Eggs from Plastic Squeeze Bottles

Cartons of lacewing eggs (50,000 to 200,000 per carton) are usually mixed "with food" (frozen moth egg diet) unless customer wants "straight eggs--no food". Cartons can be marked by collection date if requested. Older eggs may hatch a little faster. Cartons are packed in cardboard box and shipped second day service if customer wants eggs developing in transit, or in an ice chest with warm or cold packs and shipped by overnight service if weather is extremely cold or hot. Open cardboard or foam box same day to let air circulate around the cartons. Inspect at least a random sample of cartons to become familiar with appearance of eggs before and during incubation period.Timing of hatch is 2-5 days, but hard to predict unless temperature is controlled. We start incubating on arrival at 85º F; relative humidity should be above 35% RH if possible. Do not refrigerate eggs unless they were shipped very cold. You can hold them cooler, down to 60’ F to slow them down. You can manage the holding temperature of different cartons to stagger the hatch by 12-24 hours if desired.

Plastic squeeze bottles can be used to distribute hatching larvae along with predatory mites if desired for simultaneous release. A pint-size bottle can hold 1,000 mites and 5,000 - 10,000 lacewing per bottle for roughly 1/2 to 1 acre. Mixing When lacewing are between 25-50% hatching, mix the desired per-acre release amount gently in a cement mixer and fill the bottles using a funnel. Spoon roughly 1 ml hatching eggs or 2 mI if food was added (1/8-1/4 tsp or 5,000 eggs) per 250 ml corn grit or bran (2 cups or enough for one bottle). For 80 bottles of 5,000 eggs per bottle, mix 80 ml of hatching eggs (400,000 eggs) gently in 10 gallons of grit or bran. Corn cob grit can be ordered from Milihorn Chemical and Supply, Maywood, CA, 323-771-8301.

Calibrating bottles: Tips of bottles usually need to be trimmed slightly with a sharp knife so that grit or bran flows easily. Depending on the size of the opening, pint bottles hold approximately 300-500 puffs per bottle. Therefore, if you have 500 vines per acre, you would do 1 small puff per vine to finish a bottle 5,000 on one acre of edges and 1 puff per every 3-5 vines for the middles. It better to walk every other row releasing some in every row. 

Releasing: Once they are mixed with corn grit, they must be released in the next 4 hours as corn grit can be desiccating. Time factor is probably not so critical with bran. Release in cooler parts of the day. Evening is good to give larvae overnight to find protection, but early is also good if there is dew, mist or water on the leaves.