Bug of the Week: Another Lacewing Larva

Lacewings are pretty common in Arizona and I found another lacewing larva last week. (Check previous posts about the life cycle of lacewings).

lacewing larva

This lacewing was walking on the silk cocoon of a moth. You can just see the outline of the pale green moth pupa under the white strands of silk of the cocoon. I think the lacewing larva was trying to get inside, without much luck.

lacewing larva

See its long jaws? I think it might be the larva of a brown lacewing, rather than a green lacewing, because it looks a bit different. The brown lacewing adult has brown wings, hence the name.  They aren’t as fragile-looking as the green lacewing and we tend to find them more often in the colder months.

3 Comments

  1. sam

    Aha! I’ve been wondering what this odd looking bug was since finding one in my refrigerator of all places. I think it must have stowed away in the produce I’d just bought. I scooped it up in a container so I could put it outside, but first tried to identify it online. No luck.

    Meanwhile, the lacewing had decided that since it wasn’t going anywhere for a while, it might as well begin its metamorphosis. When I came back a short while later, it was already in the process of cocooning itself and well fastened to the containeer, so putting it outside will have to wait until after it hatches.

    Anyway, good article. I searched high and low trying to identify this little guy, but had no luck until now, so thanks.

  2. Micaela

    In my pursuit of white fly evidence (we’re having a bit of a plague here in so cal.) I accidentallY caught a brown lace wing. I pinned her under my scope and then realized what she was from her elaborate antennae. dang. We need more of them!

  3. Roberta

    It happens sometimes. At least you know to look out for them now.

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