Is the pest control effect of green lacewings long-lasting? Farmers and the Miaoli District Agricultural Research and Extension Station discuss price and concerns about them flying away

The troublesome mealybugs hinder crop growth, so let the ferocious green lacewings lend a hand! Though seemingly tiny, green lacewings are strong fighters that prey on whiteflies, scale insects, aphids and spider mites. Many farmers are interested in buying green lacewing egg cards or larvae to replace pesticide application, but they are troubled by the high cost, and they also worry that the green lacewings will fly away once they have eaten the pests, that the application period is short, and that they must keep spending money to buy egg cards, so the promotion effect has been poor.

To increase farmers' willingness to use them, the Council of Agriculture's Miaoli District Agricultural Research and Extension Station (hereinafter referred to as the "Miaoli Station") plans to launch automated equipment to reduce the cost of artificial breeding of green lacewings, so that farmers can "buy without fear." At the same time, it will also produce teaching manuals introducing correct application methods and control results, promoting biological control with natural enemies to replace the original use of pesticides.

Green lacewings are ferocious and highly effective, controlling two-spotted spider mites, aphids and mealybugs

The green lacewing is an omnivorous insect and, among biological control materials, is a predatory natural enemy. It can eat whiteflies, scale insects, aphids and spider mites, and is suitable for crops such as strawberries, melons and fruits.Although the larvae of the green lacewing Chrysopa boninensis are so small they are almost invisible to the naked eye, even mealybugs and spider mites that are larger than it can become its "meal,"As long as they are targeted by it, they can only let their paralyzed bodies be sucked dry by the Chrysopa boninensis until "the liquid dries and the insect dies"。

"Strawberries, papayas, grapes, wax apples and cucumbers are all being treated with them by some people," said Zeng Yufang, the specialist in charge at Jitian Tian Company, a major seller of natural enemy control materials in the country. At present, the area of farmland in Taiwan, China using green lacewings is about five jia, of which about ten percent of buyers are organic farmers, while the others are farmers transitioning from conventional farming to traceable agricultural products or adopting protected cultivation, and there are even residents using them in home balcony vegetable gardens.

Zeng explained that crops prone to two-spotted spider mites, aphids and mealybugs can all use green lacewings to prey on them. Many farmers say that, in response to the current trend of reducing pesticide use, releasing green lacewings can save the labor of pest removal and pesticides, and is even easier to use than pesticides.