Green Lacewing Eggs

Chrysoperla carnea (Green Lacewing) eggs are the economical way to get lacewing larvae onto a plant. You are buying the stage before the predator and paying accordingly: the eggs hatch on the foliage over a few days, and the larvae — the "aphid lions" — hunt from there. The adults eat pollen and nectar and take no pests at all.

Aphids are the job. The field work behind that got real reduction on small, open plants at rate, and none on large plants under cover or on citrus trees — so on a big established specimen, expect help rather than a clearance. The larvae will take other soft-bodied pests on encounter, but that is not a reason to buy them.

One thing to weigh before choosing eggs over larvae: where the two have been compared directly, released eggs underperformed released larvae. The eggs hatch — that part works, and it has been checked under a microscope — but many of the neonates never reach a pest, because they emerge hungry among their own siblings and eat each other. Spread them thin and wide, use them when pressure is low or you are getting ahead of it, and reach for the incubated Larvae product when there is an active outbreak to clear.

The eggs hatch into larvae, and you may never see an adult lacewing — that is how it is supposed to go.

Everything you are buying happens in the larval stage. The larva is the predator — it hunts for about two to three weeks, then spins a cocoon and pupates. What emerges is a different creature with a different diet: green lacewing adults are not predators at all. They feed on pollen, nectar and honeydew. Most leave to find flowers and are never seen again.

So judge this on what happens to the aphids while the larvae are working, not on whether you ever spot a pale green insect with lace wings. If you want the cycle to continue, the adults need flowers nearby to feed on and somewhere to lay — otherwise each release is one wave of larvae, and the next wave has to come from you.