Common Name – Green Lacewing

Phylum: Arthropoda

Class: Insecta

Order: Neuroptera

Family: Chrysopidae

You might think these little faces remind you of aliens, but they are endemic to North Dakota.  The Green Lacewing is a very common insect throughout the United States and is widely considered to be a beneficial insect.  There are about 85 genera of “Lacewings” with the smaller Brown Lacewing also being common here.  At the base of the forewings is a structure known as a tympanal organ, which allows them to “hear” well.  Because some species look so similar, the only way to tell the species apart is to listen to their mating signals. They will suspend their eggs on strings, they look like very tiny pearls.

The adults tend to come out at dusk, night, and dawn.  They typically feed upon pollen, nectar, mites and aphids.  Their consumption of aphids (which often harm agricultural and landscape plants) is what makes them beneficial in terms of human benefit.  Their larvae are also predatory on aphids, so don’t let their odd appearance make you think they are “bad” insects.