Distribution-shift
Guides
Polystoechotes punctata
giant lacewing
Polystoechotes punctata is a giant lacewing in the family Ithonidae, reaching up to two inches in length. The species was considered extirpated from eastern North America by the 1950s but was rediscovered in Fayetteville, Arkansas in 2012 when an individual was found on a Walmart facade. The specimen was misidentified until 2020. The species shows evidence of a distributional shift, with eastern populations declining and western populations becoming more prominent.