Unidentified Debris-Carrying Larvae

Trash "bugs"

10 spp. in our area are known to have debris-carrying members (9 for the entire genus)

1. Abachrysa (single species)

2. Ceraeochrysa (all species)

3. Chrysopa (C. slossonae uses wool from the wooly alder aphid; C.quadripunctata are only occasional debris-carriers)(1)

4. Chrysopodes (single species)

5. Eremochrysa (all species)

6. Kymachrysa (all species)

7. Leucochrysa (all species)

8. Nothochrysa (single species)

9. Pseudomallada (all species)

10. Yumachrysa (all species)

Green lacewing larvae have tubercles with protruding setae (or hairs). Species that carry a debris packet have a shorter, broader abdomen, and long scoli (tubercle-like extensions) with hooked setae.(2) So far, the following species of debris-carrying green lacewing larvae on BugGuide have been identified past family:

Ceraeochrysa cincta

Ceraeochrysa lineaticornis

Kymachrysa intacta

Leucochrysa floridana

Leucochrysa insularis

Leucochrysa pavida

Nothochrysa californica

Yumachrysa sp.

See Green Lacewings for general information on this family.

It seems that the trash carried by the larvae of several species confers some protection against predatory lady beetles.

Naked green lacewing larvae have a longer, narrower abdomen, unhooked setae, and no long scoli.

Chrysopa sp.

Chrysoperla carnea-group

Chrysoperla comanche

Chrysoperla externa

Chrysoperla harrisii

Chrysoperla rufilabris

Meleoma sp.

Brown lacewing larvae lack tubercles with setae and have proportionally more slender, elongate bodies than any of the green lacewing larvae. Brown lacewings are naked larvae and thus lack any sort of scoli. They also have shorter mandibles.

Hemerobius sp.

Micromus sp.

Micromus posticus