The Brown Lacewings Of Florida

Brown lacewings are small to medium-sized insects (forewing length 3-9 mm in Florida) which are predaceous both as adults and larvae. They prefer soft-bodied insects such as aphids, mealybugs, and also insect eggs. Because of the longevity of the adults (at least 5 months in some species), voracious appetites (for example, Micromus posticus (Walker) larva consumed an average of 41 aphids during its life (Cutright 1923), and high reproductive capacity (1 female Hemerobius humulinus Linnaeus can lay 460 eggs (Smith 1923), they are useful biological control agents. Some species have been utilized for this purpose, but limited work has been done. In Texas, Sympherobius barberi Banks is being mass reared for control of citrus mealybug (Hart, pers. comm.). Florida has a small fauna of 10 species in 4 genera, and the present circular provides keys to identification of the adults of our species.