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Lacewing larvae - Chrysoperla carnea


Size

What Are Aphids & How Do I Identify Them?

Aphid is a name for a large group of insects, many of which can cause serious damage to plants. They extract sap from plants causing a reduction in plant growth, reduced yields, and sometimes defoliation. Aphids can also secrete toxic substances into the plants. The Aphids take proteins from the sap and then excrete the excess sugar left in the sap back onto plants. This causes a sticky mess on the leaves, which black molds often grow on.

Aphids are soft bodied and often shed white skins onto leaves. Adult Aphids can be green, yellow, pink, black, grey or brown.

What Are Lacewing Larvae & How Can They Help?

Chrysoperla carnea is the Latin name for the species of Lacewing used for the biological control of Aphids. The larvae of these Lacewing are highly effective predators of Aphids (also known as Greenfly & Blackfly). One Lacewing larvae can consume up to 200 aphids. Our Lacewing larvae are at the 2nd instar stage and will be effective predators for your infestations.

Once the Lacewings have developed into adulthood they will no longer feed on the Aphids but will instead serve as useful pollinators for your garden. Lacewing larvae will also feed on Leafhoppers, Glasshouse Thrips (Greenhouse Thrips / Black Tea Thrips), Clover Mites & more insect pests.

Where Should I Use Lacewing larvae?

Lacewing larvae can be used to treat plants both inside and outside, in a variety of environments permitting they match the temperature conditions required by the larvae.

What Conditions Do The Lacewing Larvae Require?

Apply Lacewings only when temperatures are above 15℃. Activity will increase with higher temperatures.

When Should I Use Lacewing Larvae?

For indoor use of Lacewing larvae they should be released from March to September.

For outdoor use of Lacewing larvae they should be released from May to September.

How Do I Apply Lacewing larvae?

The larvae are supplied in a buckwheat husk carrier material, with some food. This prevents the larvae from feeding on each other while in transit.

The best way to apply your Lacewing larvae is to apply them directly onto Aphid colonies. Lacewing larvae are easy to apply to low growing crops or plants with wide leaves and can be poured from the shaker bottle directly onto the Aphids.

If applying to high growing crops or plants, use our Distribution Boxes. These little boxes can be filled with Lacewing larvae and carrier material directly from the applicator bottle. They can then be hung onto stems or leaves of your plants. The larvae will then emerge out of the applicator boxes onto the plants. 

Full instructions will be provided on delivery.

How Many Lacewing Larvae Do I Need?

Apply the Lacewing larvae at around 10-30 per square metre. Apply higher quantities onto areas of plants suffering from higher infestations of Aphids.

Once the larvae develop into adults they do not feed on Aphids, so repeat applications of larvae may be required for new or larger infestations.

Chemical Pesticides

Lacewing larvae are living creatures and can be affected by any chemical pesticides used within the previous few weeks. As a general guide, refrain from using Natural Pyrethrum or SB Plant Invigorator 2 days prior to use. Other chemical insecticides can have long lasting residues that could harm the Lacewing larvae and other predators for much longer periods. Refrain from using these products or check with Dragonfli for information on the effect of these products on our predators.

Customer Reviews

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Customer Reviews

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S
Sue Blackman
Lethal lacewings

I had a really bad, established thrip infestation.
I was advised to use these, along with Amblyseius swirskii, which have done a good job, in tackling them, although, l had to use another round of the lacewing, as it was so bad.
I checked yesterday and only found a few left.
You can contact them directly, via their website, as they can give you expert advice on how to tackle or avoid any infestations, you may have.
Can highly recommend this company.

K
Keeley

Good product does the job

M
Mark

Half of them were dead… after complaining about the timescale on the delivery they assured me they would send them
Same day business delivery… well that was a lie and I have it all in writing…. AVOID THIS COMPANY AT ALL COSTS

Hi Mark,

Thanks for getting in touch and sorry to hear that you were disappointed with your order on this occasion.

We do not offer a same day business delivery service , so perhaps you may be confusing us with an alternate supplier? This is also the first we have heard from you with regards to your order.

We do offer an 'Arrive Alive Guarantee' whereby customers that receive live product impaired by significant casualties in transit will be re-imbursed or have their order replaced. If you feel this to have been the case with your order please contact our customer service team and they will look into this for you.

I would also like to add that Lacewing larvae are nocturnal predators so it can be tricky to first identify them. Indeed the larvae are so small (approximately 75% smaller than a ladybird larvae!) that they are difficult to spot and are the same colour as the buckwheat they are transported in.

Kind regards,

Julian Ives [Director, Dragonfli]

H
Hayley
Exciting to watch! Unfortunately haven't eaten them all.

It was so exciting watching these little dudes trot out of the tub straight onto the plants and start eating the aphids on my houseplants. They did really great work in the first week or so making a noticeable impact. Unfortunately though I keep finding them anywhere but on the plants with aphids and I have to keep moving them back. The aphids haven't completely gone so have started breeding again. Maybe I just didn't get enough as I had quite a big infestation.

Hi Hayley,

Many thanks for your feedback and for ordering with us.

Glad to hear you had original success with the Lacewings and that you enjoyed watching some live biological control in action!

Aphids are a real challenge to completely eradicate due to their rapid breeding capacity. They have the remarkable ability to reproduce asexually whereby live young are birthed that are essentially clones of their mothers, with no mating required. To make matters worse, female Aphids are already pregnant with the next generation of Aphids when born.

If you had come close to completely clearing them from your plants it would be best to ensure that you finish the job before the populations can build up dramatically once more. I would suggest to apply another round of Lacewings, or Ladybird larvae, both of which are voracious natural predators of this pest. There can be no risk in over applying these natural predators so it's always best to have a high number of predators active on infested plants to give the Aphids the least possible chance of establishing.

Please keep us posted on how your next application goes and if you ever need any further advice please just give us a shout and we'd be more than happy to help.

Kind regards,

Julian Ives [Director, Dragonfli]

M
Marie

Had an issue with delivery but Dragonfli resolved it satisfactorily and quickly.