Lacewings
Guides
Chrysopinae
Typical Green Lacewings
Chrysopinae is the nominate and largest subfamily of green lacewings (Chrysopidae), comprising approximately 60 genera. The subfamily includes well-known genera such as Chrysoperla and Chrysopa, which are common in Europe and North America. Members are distinguished by their delicate, green bodies and golden eyes. Larvae are predatory and several species have been employed in biological pest control programs.
Hemerobiiformia
Lacewings and Allies
Hemerobiiformia is a suborder of Neuroptera comprising lacewings, mantidflies, and related families. Traditional classifications grouped these insects separately from antlions and owlflies (Myrmeleontiformia), but 2014 phylogenetic studies using mitochondrial DNA revealed Hemerobiiformia to be paraphyletic, with some lineages more closely related to Myrmeleontiformia than to other Hemerobiiformia. The Osmyloidea, previously placed here, appears to represent a basal lineage outside both groups. The suborder includes families such as Hemerobiidae (brown lacewings), Chrysopidae (green lacewings), and Mantispidae (mantidflies).
Micromus
brown lacewings
Micromus is a genus of small brown lacewings in the family Hemerobiidae, containing over 80 and possibly as many as 170 species. These 4–10 mm insects are distributed worldwide and are important predators of agricultural and horticultural pests. Both larvae and adults are predatory, feeding on soft-bodied insects and mites. Several species, particularly Micromus tasmaniae, have been mass-reared and deployed as biological control agents.
Neoconis
Neoconis is a genus of dustywing lacewings in the family Coniopterygidae. The genus contains approximately 17 described species distributed primarily in the Neotropical region, with records from Central and South America and the Caribbean. Several species were described by the Finnish entomologist Heikki Meinander in the 1970s–1990s, reflecting a period of active taxonomic work on the group. The genus includes one fossil species, Neoconis paleocaribis, described from Dominican amber.