Chapter 5
Lacewings: Research and Applied Aspects
Mahdi Hassanpour, Mohammad Asadi, Ali Jooyandeh, and Hossein Madadi
5.1 Introduction: Why Lacewings Are Important?
The Order Neuroptera encompasses 17 families, three of which including Chrysopidae (green lacewings), Hemerobiidae (brown lacewings), and
Coniopterygidae (dustywing lacewings) are considered as the most important families. These families are highly effective agents in augmentative biocontrol programs
to control a wide variety of target pests such as aphids, scales, thrips, leafhoppers,
and mites (New 1999). Based on a review of literature, 217 species from this order
are found in Iran, among which 46, 4, and 25 species belong to Chrysopidae,
Hemerobiidae, and Coniopterygidae families, respectively, covering 25 out of
31 provinces of Iran (Mirmoayedi 2002a, b; Mirmoayedi 2008; Farahi et al. 2009).
Green lacewings are an important group of insect predators. The adults of most
chrysopids are not predaceous; rather, they feed on pollen, plant nectar, and insect
honeydew (e.g., aphid or coccid honeydew; Fig. 5.1a); however, the larvae
(Fig. 5.1c) feed on a wide range of small soft-bodied insects, mites as well as eggs
and young caterpillars (Canard and Principi 1984). They have hollow, sickle-shaped
mandibles used for sucking fluids from their victims. Pupation takes place inside a
silken cocoon (Fig. 5.1d). Green lacewing eggs (Fig. 5.1b) are available from
commercial insectaries and may be purchased for augmentative releases (Uddin
et al. 2005; Woolfolk et al. 2007). The importance of green lacewings as natural
M. Hassanpour (*) · M. Asadi
Department of Plant Protection, University of Mohaghegh Ardabili, Ardabil, Iran
e-mail: hassanpour@uma.ac.ir
A. Jooyandeh
Department of Plant Protection, Khorasan Razavi Agriculture and Natural Resources Research
and Education Center, Mashhad, Iran
H. Madadi
Department of Plant Protection, Faculty of Agriculture, Bu-Ali Sina University, Hamedan, Iran
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
J. Karimi, H. Madadi (eds.), Biological Control of Insect and Mite Pests in Iran,
Progress in Biological Control 18, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-63990-7_5
175
Lacewings: Research and Applied Aspects
Mahdi Hassanpour, Mohammad Asadi, Ali Jooyandeh, and Hossein Madadi
5.1 Introduction: Why Lacewings Are Important?
The Order Neuroptera encompasses 17 families, three of which including Chrysopidae (green lacewings), Hemerobiidae (brown lacewings), and
Coniopterygidae (dustywing lacewings) are considered as the most important families. These families are highly effective agents in augmentative biocontrol programs
to control a wide variety of target pests such as aphids, scales, thrips, leafhoppers,
and mites (New 1999). Based on a review of literature, 217 species from this order
are found in Iran, among which 46, 4, and 25 species belong to Chrysopidae,
Hemerobiidae, and Coniopterygidae families, respectively, covering 25 out of
31 provinces of Iran (Mirmoayedi 2002a, b; Mirmoayedi 2008; Farahi et al. 2009).
Green lacewings are an important group of insect predators. The adults of most
chrysopids are not predaceous; rather, they feed on pollen, plant nectar, and insect
honeydew (e.g., aphid or coccid honeydew; Fig. 5.1a); however, the larvae
(Fig. 5.1c) feed on a wide range of small soft-bodied insects, mites as well as eggs
and young caterpillars (Canard and Principi 1984). They have hollow, sickle-shaped
mandibles used for sucking fluids from their victims. Pupation takes place inside a
silken cocoon (Fig. 5.1d). Green lacewing eggs (Fig. 5.1b) are available from
commercial insectaries and may be purchased for augmentative releases (Uddin
et al. 2005; Woolfolk et al. 2007). The importance of green lacewings as natural
M. Hassanpour (*) · M. Asadi
Department of Plant Protection, University of Mohaghegh Ardabili, Ardabil, Iran
e-mail: hassanpour@uma.ac.ir
A. Jooyandeh
Department of Plant Protection, Khorasan Razavi Agriculture and Natural Resources Research
and Education Center, Mashhad, Iran
H. Madadi
Department of Plant Protection, Faculty of Agriculture, Bu-Ali Sina University, Hamedan, Iran
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
J. Karimi, H. Madadi (eds.), Biological Control of Insect and Mite Pests in Iran,
Progress in Biological Control 18, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-63990-7_5
175