The Lacewing are shipped to you as eggs, and will probably be hatching or very close to hatching by the time you receive them. We mix the Lacewing eggs with rice hulls and moth eggs for food. The rice hulls serve two functions: first, when the Lacewing hatch, they are very hungry! (In fact, they are so hungry that they often resort to cannibalism if there is no other food source available). The rice hulls provide separation so they are not as apt to eat each other. The second reason is that since they are so small, it is easier to distribute them if they are in a carrier to give you more volume to work with. A thimble would hold about 10,000 lacewing eggs!

Sprinkle them around your plants. If you are putting them in trees, you can place small amounts in paper drinking cups and staple them to the leaves. The Lacewing will crawl out and up into the tree or plant. The larvae will feed for about 3 weeks, then they will roll up into a little white pupae and emerge as an adult in about 1 week ready to lay eggs! When looking for the newly hatched lacewing larvae, remember that they are quite small, about the size of the pale green or gray egg from which they came, so you may have difficulty seeing them.

WATER WASHING: In the event your plants are already heavily infested with aphids or other harmful insects, it is advisable to “water wash” your plants first. This involves spraying the plants with water, thus knocking the insects to the ground. The Lacewing larvae will establish themselves more quickly and prevent further infestations.