Chrysoperla rufilabris
The green lacewing widely sold by US insectaries — Sound Horticulture, Arbico, Evergreen Growers and Rincon-Vitova all list it by name. It is the close relative of Chrysoperla carnea, the lacewing European producers sell. The alligator-shaped larva, up to 3/8 inch long, hunts aphids and other soft-bodied pests for two to three weeks; the adults eat only pollen and nectar. Sound Horticulture says it prefers warm, humid places such as greenhouses and orchards, while C. carnea does better in hot, dry fields.
At a glance
- Mode
- Predator — larvae only
- Rate
- 1–5 larvae /sq ft per release
- Ships as
- Eggs, larvae or adults
- Temp
- 67–90 °F (Arbico); 48–90 °F (Evergreen)
- Humidity
- Above 30–40 % RH
- Larval stage
- 2–3 weeks; life cycle about 30 days
How it works
Each egg sits on the tip of a silk stalk and hatches in about four days. The larva is elongate, flattened and alligator-like, with large curved jaws, and grows to about 3/8 inch (1 cm) over two to three weeks of feeding; Sound Horticulture puts it at more than 200 pests a week. It then pupates in a silk cocoon, and the whole cycle takes roughly 30 days. The adults do not hunt: suppliers say they feed only on pollen and nectar, which they need to lay eggs, and UC IPM adds honeydew.
It is treated as a generalist aphid eater, but its diet is narrower than that suggests. In a 2022 feeding study, larvae ate all 16 aphid species offered but completed development and produced eggs on only seven, so some aphids are food and others merely filler. The larvae are also fierce: in one laboratory study they outfought the larvae of two of three lady beetle species (only the Asian lady beetle held its own), and they had the highest cannibalism rate of the species tested, which is why bottled larvae must be released the day they arrive. Rincon-Vitova's advice is to release early and repeatedly, not to rely on lacewings to rescue a plant that is already overrun.
Is it established?
A lacewing leaves no mummy. Check the colonies you released onto for the larvae themselves; they are partly nocturnal and easy to miss by day.
- DAY 1Cream to tan, alligator-shaped larvae moving through the colonies
- WEEKS 1–3Larvae feeding and growing to about 3/8 inch; aphid numbers falling on the release plants
- WEEKS 2–3Silk cocoons on leaves and stems as the larvae pupate
- ABOUT DAY 30Adults emerge; stalked eggs on leaves near flowers mean some have stayed
Release & handling
Larvae arrive in a carrier such as rice hulls or buckwheat, in a bottle, bag or bucket, or in a honeycomb "hexcel" frame. They cannibalise each other when packed together, so release them on arrival — Arbico says within four hours, and Sound Horticulture says not to cold-store larvae. Eggs are more forgiving: Sound Horticulture allows up to 48 hours at no lower than 50 °F, at about 75 % RH.
Release the same day
Within four hours of arrival (Arbico). Keep in a cool, shaded spot until then; never in direct sun.
Warm, then release at hatch
Rincon-Vitova keeps eggs at 75–90 °F and 30–50 % RH and releases within 24 hours of the first larvae. Do not refrigerate.
Onto the colonies
Sprinkle carrier and larvae onto infested foliage. From a hexcel, peel back the mesh an inch at a time and tap the larvae out.
Control ants, repeat
Ants eat lacewing eggs and guard aphids from the larvae. Rincon-Vitova advises two to three releases for overlapping generations.
Pesticide sensitivity
Rincon-Vitova warns that lacewing pupae are sensitive to sulfur dust and oil sprays. In one laboratory comparison, of four slow-acting insecticides (buprofezin, pyriproxyfen, spirotetramat and spiromesifen) only pyriproxyfen was mildly toxic to C. rufilabris (Prabhaker et al. 2017). That study is no clearance for other sprays; keep them away from release plants. Check a product →
When to choose something else
It is a broad, short-lived knockdown with a US price advantage. Choose something else when:
- The crop is a hot, dry field — Sound Horticulture offers C. carnea for those conditions and C. rufilabris for greenhouses and orchards
- You want lasting, preventive aphid control under glass — the adults do not hunt, so use a parasitoid such as Aphidius colemani
- Ants are tending the aphids — control the ants first, or the eggs and larvae will be lost
- Colonies are already out of hand — Rincon-Vitova advises releasing early rather than relying on lacewings to rescue plants
Where to buy
Suppliers listed alphabetically, not ranked. helpfulbugs takes no commission and does not sell insects.
- Arbico Organics400 hexcel / 1,000 / 5,000 / 10,000 larvaeUS
- Evergreen Growers SupplyBottle, bulk bag or hexcelUS
- Rincon-VitovaEggs to 250,000; larvae 400 to 10,000; adultsUS
- Sound HorticultureEggs 5,000–40,000; larvae 400–10,000; adultsUS
Chrysoperla rufilabris by target
Rate and timing differ by what you are releasing it against. Each page below is the program for one pest.