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Project Noah Nature School
Chrysopidae
This lacewing was about 2-2½ cm long. The wings are heavily veined and translucent. The entire body is a light green except for the eyes, which are typically golden colored. The antenna are long. The Lacewings belong to the family Chrysopidae in the Neuroptera order. There are about 85 genera and 1,300–2,000 species. There is much confusion on the divisions of classification, with the result that most are simply referred to as Common Lacewings.
This little fella/gal was competing with me for space under a desk lamp in Quito, Ecuador (2,850 masl) trying keep warm, at least I was. For this jungle bunny, Quito is the Arctic. Everything I read talked about them in North America, Europe and Asia, however, if this is indeed a Chrysopidae, they are obviously found in the Andes Mountains of Ecuador.
Lacewings are nocturnal or crepuscular and I see by the time of these fotos this one was keeping me company from 06h30-07h10. They eat pollen, nectar and honeydew along with mites, aphids and other small arthropods. Others feed almost exclusively on nectar and similar substances, and have symbiotic yeasts in their digestive tract to help break down the food into nutrients. In my research I read an interesting fact: "Adults have tympanal organs at the forewings' base, enabling them to hear well." Weird, huh?
Spotted on Feb 20, 2019
Submitted on Apr 22, 2019
2 Comments
Thanks Hema. It was so delicate, and friendly.
Elegant creatures.