A sustainable ecosystem in the garden is very important because there must be predators and prey to keep it balanced. This is why it is important not to use treatments unless necessary because a pest has gotten out of control. And in your garden you cannot miss lacewings because they feed on many harmful insects and their eggs, today we are going to learn 4 ways to attract lacewings to the garden and their benefits.
Contents
What are lacewings?
They are predatory insects of the order Neuroptera which means membranous wings since they have wings full of nerves. They are nocturnal and adults can usually be seen during the day perched under plant leaves or on walls. Lacewings can be green or brown with very striking gold or copper eyes and during summer nights they are mostly seen fluttering around lights.
Lacewing life cycle
After mating, the females lay their eggs on the leaves or trunks of trees or plants where there is food for their offspring. They can be assembled or separated and green lacewings have a particular way of protecting their eggs from predators by laying them at the end of a hanging thread. Larvae at birth are elongated without wings and with huge jaws that are used to suck their prey.
What do they feed on?
Lacewing larvae are mainly predators of insects considered pests such as aphids, caterpillars, mites and other soft insects. Adults are pollinators, eating nectar and pollen from flowers at night.
How to attract lacewings to the garden?
flowering hedge
The main key to maintaining a garden with many predators is to have at least one hedge of various flowers to attract and establish them in the garden. Cosmos flowers, daisies, marigolds, sunflowers and open flowers are ideal for lacewings. They also like dill flowers, parsley, yarrow…
Water available
Beneficial insects like to live in areas where food and water are easily accessible. If we could provide them with a place where they can perch to drink water without the risk of falling and drowning, that would be ideal. For this we need a shallow dish or any other similar container, fill it with clean stones and put cool water. Insects that need to drink water, especially on the hottest days of summer, will be happy to hydrate.
Complete pantry for lacewings
In the orchard it is good that there is always a minimum amount of harmful insects such as aphids or scale insects, because in this way predators will be attracted to feed and also to lay eggs. We can leave some weeds that aphids like, like lockjaws, or even let go when dealing with a cabbage that has aphids, many predators can feed on a single plant. Lacewing larvae, ladybugs, hoverfly larvae… it’s a whole world in miniature.
Purchase of insects
If you don’t see lacewings in your garden, you may want to purchase a container with larvae to release them. There are many stores specializing in the sale of insects for agriculture such as Koppert or if you prefer you can buy on Amazon. It is recommended that you meet the above conditions so that the new community you purchased does not die.
Facilitate Bihotel
Bug hotels are great when it comes to providing shelter, if you add a hole or space with straw I’m sure more than one lacewing will thank you for that as they like to take shelter.
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