“Beneficial Insects – Part III” by Sharon Hanna.
Lacewings are unmistakeable: pale green, with slender, elongated bodies, and two pairs of extremely delicate netted wings. Their larvae are similar to that of the ladybird beetle (ladybug), in that they resemble little dragons or alligators, except that they are beige with brown markings.
Adult lacewing
While adult lacewings require nectar for energy, pollen from flowers, and drink the honeydew from aphids, the larva eat anything, and lots of it. It is estimated that during the larval stages, one lacewing can eat up to 800 aphids.
Known as “indescriminate” feeders, the larva behave like teenage boys, walking over 8 linear miles in one short larval season, consuming anything which lies in their path, including thrips, red mites, spider mites, leaf-hoppers, and also caterpillars. Unlike other beneficials, lacewings produce several generations each growing season, making them possibly the most effective predatory insect we know.
Lacewing larva
Have you been hankering for a “water feature”, for haven’t found a good enough excuse? Here is a great one, for lacewings love (and need) constant humidity to support their dainty physiological structure, and will stay around if you have a garden fountain which will create a constant mist! Or, increase humidity by close planting and using mulch. Lacewings are nocturnal and phototropic (attracted by light), so garden lighting will give them a real welcome.
Adult lacewings feed on flower nectar, and their number one favourite is Cosmos, and especially the white variety. A good one is aptly-named “Purity”. Other useful plants for them are fennel, alyssum, achillea (tansy), all easily raised from seed, and fundamental to your bio-diverse garden.
Alyssum (left) and achillea (right) attract lacewings to your garden
While we are all the subject of beneficial insects, it’s useful to remember that today’s caterpillar is tomorrow’s butterfly. It is another of life’s ironies when one finds that in order to attract butterflies, you must be willing to tolerate damage to the “host” plant.
Years ago, I ripped out a patch of fall asters for that very reason – chewed leaves, caterpillar droppings, and what I felt were unsightly webs. Undoubtedly my backyard is less populated with certain types of butterflies!
Mother Nature prefers a riot of Everything, including leaves with holes, and she likes it messy. Weevils, slow-moving snub-nosed creatures, might take a few bites of the rhododendron, but they are also food for the kind of birds that you want to attract.
So, you are invited to play in your own biosphere! And, remember – if this sounds overly bizarre or time-consuming, and relaxing appeals to you, there is another way to help – neglect a part of your garden, and let it be. Leave a rotten stump, stones, and leaves. Mother Nature called them leaves for a reason. Tell your neighbours you have become a “zen” gardener. You are exonerated, for ‘lazy’ gardeners naturally generate biodiversity, a great justification to sit back and watch your garden grow.
© Sharon Hanna, Horticultural Writer for Terra Viva Organics (tvorganics.com). All pictures copyright eSeeds.com Inc.