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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

Based on 27 reviews
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Louise CLARKE
Not Sure

I have faith that Lacewing Larvae are doing good, but actually I have
absolutely no idea whether this is so or not. The greenfly are still there, although probably reduced in numbers. I hope.

Hi Louise,

Many thanks for your feedback and for ordering with us.

Lacewing larvae are so small that they are almost impossible to see with the human eye. We'd recommend investing in one of our magnifying glasses if you wish to study them more closely. They are approximately 75% smaller than a ladybird larvae, so this can give you some idea of scale! They are also the same colour as the buckwheat they are transported in, so spotting them can indeed be quite a feat!

They are also nocturnal, preferring to feed on pests overnight, so you may wake up one morning and notice that Aphid populations have been depleted. We hope this is a trend you start to identify as the predators continue to establish on your plants.

I hope this information helps but if you need any further assistance please don’t hesitate to reach out again and we’d be more than happy to help.

Kind regards,
Julian Ives [Director, Dragonfli]

F
Fergus
Happy with this natural solution !

Happy with this natural solution. I've made a preliminary clean up before applying them as much as I could, no newingectionq agter a few weeks. I will reorder it once just to prevent any new start as my plants were really infected at first.

E
Eric Chui
It works

Bought lacewing larvae due to a tree having aphid problem. Released them on said tree and was skeptical for a few days. But now, the tree is full of lacewings, and with no aphid in sight! Better still, some lacewings have moved on to other affected trees that I didn't know had aphid problems in the first place. Hope these little friends are gonna stay!

A
Annie
Lacewings

Didn’t see many lacewings but the aphids have definitely been reduced so they seem to be working!

D
David Walker
Lacewing on Chillies

They were initially quite slow to start to take effect. It took about a week before they started to emerge from the box. After a week they have really gone to work and as they've grown they've really chewed through the aphid numbers.