Lacewings are Beneficial Insects

Yesterday, my husband and I were working in the Chenin Blanc, shoot tucking, removing excess shoots and cleaning the area around the graft union. The grapes are at fruitset and they look really good. It is time for leaf pulling.

While we were working in the Chenin Blanc, I found these cuties:

We stopped what we were doing to take photos. We went home to see what they were and it turns out to be lacewing eggs. More importantly, lacewings are beneficial insects. I learned a lot from the Ohio State University Extension article, Ohio’s Natural Enemies: Lacewings. For example, because these eggs were on a stalk they are eggs of the green lacewing and not the brown lacewing.

• green lacewings (Family Chrysopidae)
• lacewings are considered beneficial insects due to their voracious appetite for insect pests
• lacewings undergo complete metamorphosis with egg, larval, pupal and adult stages
• all lacewing larvae are predators and are important contributors to biological control
• green lacewing larvae have a reputation as voracious aphid predators, and are often referred to as “aphid lions”
• while lacewing larvae do feed on aphids, they are generalist predators and also feed on a wide range of soft-bodied insect pests including mites, whiteflies, mealybugs, and insect eggs
• adults feed on pollen, nectar or honeydew—the sweet, carbohydrate-rich excrement of sap-feeding aphids
• lacewing eggs, larvae and adults are available commercially for purchase

I put together the life cycle of the green lacewing from the two references cited below:

We learned that lacewings are beneficial insects and are happy to have them in the vineyard. While working in the vineyard these days is not for the faint-hearted (hot, humid, overall yucky), it's little treasures like these that make work in the vineyard very interesting and educational.
References:
1. Mary Griffith, Ohio State University Extension and Mary M. Gardiner, Department of Entomology, Ohio State University Extension, Ohio’s Natural Enemies: Lacewings.
2. Kellen, Pest Wiki, Lacewing – Knowing More About the Lacewing Life Stages, June 29, 2018.