Australian variable lacewing
Drepanacra binocula
The Australian variable lacewing is a brown lacewing with lacy, see-through wings. You can recognise it by the special shape and brown colour of its wings. It is a gardener's helper, because it eats plant pests.
Lives in
Australia and New Zealand, including small islands like Lord Howe and Norfolk Island
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless to people. It only hunts tiny plant bugs.
What does it eat?
It eats aphids, whiteflies, psyllids and other small sap-sucking bugs. It lives right in the middle of their colonies.
How fast is it?
Australian variable lacewing about 3 km/h (1.9 mph)
A person walking about 5 km/h (3.1 mph)
A kid running fast about 13 km/h (8.1 mph)
A grown-up on a bike about 25 km/h (16 mph)
cool stuff
Fun facts
1
Its eggs are pale grey when laid, then turn grey-brown just before they hatch.
2
The baby uses a tiny blade on its body to cut its way out of the egg.
3
The baby grows through three stages, then spins a cocoon and turns into a grown-up.
4
It has lived in New Zealand since at least 1930.
you asked
Most asked questions about Australian variable lacewing
?What does the Australian variable lacewing eat?
Aphids, whiteflies and other small bugs that suck plant sap.
?Is the Australian variable lacewing good for gardens?
Yes. It eats bugs that harm garden plants.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Drepanacra binocula
- Group
- Other insects
- Family
- Hemerobiidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Neuroptera > Hemerobiidae
- Lives on
- Australia and Oceania
Where the facts come from
- Drepanacra binocula (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by K A J Wise. CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.
If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.
Bug Wiki honey jar For grown-ups: Bug Wiki is free, with no ads and no tracking. A small tip helps keep it online.Leave a tip
Common earwig
Silverfish
Chigoe flea
Giant earwig
Grannom
Firebrat
Clouded silver
Mischievous bird grasshopper
Straight-banded nursery web spider
Bumblebee-like digger bee
Clay bumble bee
Silver-ground carpet_(AM_AMNZ75546-1).jpg){kind=link}