Thanks for the gift of the lacewings. I released them recently by sprinkling the larvae in several different areas of my garden. I'll report back on how they are doing periodically. In the mean time, here are a couple of pictures, including the instructions that accompanied the lacewings.
Awesome. So talking about lacecwings and cannibalism makes me think of the celebrity death matches this guy had in one of my entomology classes. We had to collect a lot of insects and bring them back to the lab. We even tried rearing them for a bit. If you've got some weird eggs, then it's best to hatch them if you want to see what they are. Anyway, he put a lacewing, an assassin bug, and a praying mantis into one container. Then let them duke it out. It was a little scary, cause they eat differently. The mantis had size on its side. The assassin bug could stick its proboscis anywhere. The lacewing was smart enough to stay out of it. Yeah. I didn't watch the entire thing, because I thought it was a little cruel. But we all got regular updates. The lacewing won because it stayed out of the way and let the other two kill each other. (Actually, the mantid technically won, but it was mortally wounded and only lasted for another day). But the lacewing ended up eating the dead bodies. I have no idea what might have happened if he'd put a lady beetle in there.
ReplyDeleteI plan to do a series of posts on natural enemies. I'd love, however, to see any pictures you can get of the fledgling lacewings. Also the adult lacewings, cause they're gorgeous too.