CAN LACEWINGS FEED ON PESTS IN WINTER - (NEUR, CHRYSOPIDAE AND HEMEROBIIDAE)

Some lacewings occur in winter as larvae and may be efficient predator s, either under Mediterranean and mild temperate climates, or in cold greenhouses. They can be used to help controlling aphids in winter. Am ong chrysopids, Dichochrysa spp. overwinter as second and/or third ins tars; they show a low preying rate, both a moderate cold hardiness and a minimal activity threshold. Nineta pallida overwinters as first ins tars which have a very low activity threshold and a high cold hardines s. In hemerobiids - namely various spp. of Hemerobius, Wesmaelius, Mic romus - hibernating larvae manifest prey searching and feeding activit y at low temperatures. Minimal thermal thresholds may be very low in e mbryos and in larvae. Adults often are insensitive to photoperiod and so do not exhibit any diapause under short daylength conditions; they have a low minimal activity threshold for preying and reproducing.