A Little Bit of Lace

This guy came to the porch light last night:

Brown Lacewing (Hemerobius stigma), Zion, Lake Co, IL  4/8/2014

This is a Brown Lacewing, and I believe it's Hemerobius stigma. This is a species that is widespread in the northern hemisphere, and it's actually an important species in agriculture. It's active in very cool weather (like early April nights in Chicago), and it eats aphids -- lots of them. Neuenschwander & Hagen investigated the related H. pacificus for use as a biological control agent in artichoke fields, and found that they reduced aphid populations by 30%! This contrasts with the 14% reduction they found associated with the wasps that are often used for this purpose. (1)


Neuenschwander, P., & Hagen, K. S. (1980). Role of the predator Hemerobius pacificus in a non-insecticide treated artichoke field. Environmental Entomology,9(5), 492-495.