CHEMICAL EGG DEFENSE IN A GREEN LACEWING (CERAEOCHRYSA-SMITHI)

The green lacewing Ceraeochrysa smithi (Neuroptera, Chrysopidae), like other members of its family, lays its eggs on stalks, but it is unusu al in that it coats these stalks with droplets of an oily fluid. The l iquid consists of a mixture of fatty acids, an ester, and a series of straight-chain aldehydes. Relative to the eggs of a congeneric chrysop id that lacks stalk fluid, the eggs of C. smithi proved well protected against ants, Components of the fluid, in an assay with a cockroach, proved potently irritant, Following emergence from the egg, C. smithi larvae imbibe the stalk fluid, thereby possibly deriving nutritive ben efit, defensive advantage, or both.