Green Lacewing

Green Lacewing

Best General Purpose Predator for Gardens & Greenhouses

Green lacewings are excellent additions to any integrated pest management (IPM) program, providing benefits throughout the growing season. Adults feed on nectar, pollen, and honeydew, while the larvae are active predators of soft-bodied insect pests: aphids, thrips, whiteflies, leafhoppers, spider mites (especially red mites) and mealybugs. Once hatched, green lacewing larvae roam plant foliage looking for prey – pest eggs, nymphs or adults. They feed for 2-3 weeks, spin a cocoon, and emerge as adults 10-14 days later. Lacewing offer season on season benefits because of their ability to tolerate wide temperature ranges and work well with most beneficial insects. Combine lacewing releases with companion planting and cover cropping to help keep adults around to lay eggs for coming seasons.

Choose the Best Option for Your Needs:

Green Lacewing Eggs: Best low-cost biological control for common garden pests. If you want to establish Green lacewing at the beginning of the season or have a limited infestation, choose the appropriate numbers of eggs for your garden or greenhouse. It takes 3-10 days for larvae to emerge depending on the temperature and other environmental conditions. Repeat applications every 1-2 weeks. Green lacewing eggs are available in loose media or on hanging cards for easy release. Order a program and save with weekly shipments!

Green Lacewing Larvae: Best for immediate treatment of a pest problem. If you have a more severe infestation, consider the larval frames or bottles. They provide the quickest means to control unwanted pests with the larvae arriving ready to feed. The larvae packaged in frames have small compartments that can be peeled open to make releases in various areas. Larvae are also available in a bottle, though it is more difficult to make even applications.

Green Lacewing Adults: Best for establishing a population. If you are treating a large area and want to create standing populations, order adult lacewing. The adults come ready to lay eggs and do so throughout the release area. They are minor pollinators and feed on pollen/nectar, but do not actively control pests themselves.

PLEASE NOTE: Ants and aphids have a symbiotic relationship. This is due to the fact that ants value the secretions of the aphids (honeydew) as a food source. The ants aggressively protect the aphids from other insect threats and the aphids produce the honeydew they crave. For this reason, before you begin any treatment to control aphids with predatory insects you will need to eradicate the ants in the area to be treated. Otherwise, they will wipe out any beneficials you introduce.

Beneficial insects are most effective when released preventively or at the first sign of pests. Apply periodically over the course of a growing season. ARBICO Organics is happy to work with you to develop an IPM program; however, results will vary based upon growing environment, growing conditions (temperature, relative humidity), interactions with native insect populations, growing medium, etc. Please provide as much detail about each of these factors as possible when dealing with one of our pest control specialists. This allows us to make the most accurate and cost-effective recommendations possible.