CHRYSOforce™ R – lacewing larvae in bottle (1,000)

Product Description

CHRYSOforce™ R is the green lacewing, Chrysoperla rufilabris — a voracious generalist whose larvae eat just about any soft-bodied pest they can catch, and they are always hungry. This format ships as ready-to-hunt larvae in a 16 oz bottle, mixed with buckwheat for easy distribution, so the predators go to work the day they arrive. Use it across ornamentals, hemp/cannabis, vegetables, soft fruits, and tree nurseries, in greenhouses, indoor facilities, fields, gardens, and orchards. Note: green lacewing does not control root aphids.

What it targets

The larvae feed on:

• Many aphid species
• Many mealybug species
• Spider mites
• Many thrips species
• Whiteflies (eggs/juveniles)
• Eggs of many pest species

Crops it supports

Ornamentals, hemp/cannabis, vegetables, soft fruits, and tree nurseries — in greenhouses, indoor facilities, fields, gardens, and orchards.

How the green lacewing controls pests

The larvae seek out prey and suck the life out of them, consuming up to 50 aphids a day, and they are capable of attacking large prey. Females can lay 400-plus eggs near pest hot spots. Green lacewing stays active in low light and cooler temperatures, which makes it a flexible predator across many crops.

Release Rates

The rates shown are for larvae, so use them as listed for this product.

Cannabis Alert: Release rate suggestions on these pages are usually not sufficient for cannabis growers. For cannabis release rates, contact us.

Release Instructions

Release timing: The eggs are incubated at the insectary and will have hatched into larvae by the time they arrive, so release them the same day you receive them.

Release method: The larvae are mixed with buckwheat for easy distribution — simply sprinkle the contents over the target area, concentrating near the pest hot spots.

Storage: Do not cold store the larvae. Release them the same day they are received.

Monitoring: Larvae are small, fast, and hard to find in the crop — the best time to look is in the evening. The clearest sign the lacewings are working is a drop in pests a few days after release.

Advisories: If ants are present, control them before releasing — ants feed on aphid honeydew and will protect aphids from predators. Adult lacewings need pollen, nectar, or other suitable food to breed; Wheast™ can be given to adults as a supplement.

Meet the Beneficial Insect

The green lacewing, Chrysoperla rufilabris, is a generalist predator — but only for part of its life. This is the single most useful thing to understand about it: the larva is the predator, and the adult is not. Everything about how you buy, time, and support this insect follows from that split.

The larva does the hunting

Lacewing larvae are small, fast, and relentless. They hunt down soft-bodied prey and drain them, taking up to 50 aphids in a single day, and they are willing to attack prey considerably larger than themselves. They stay active in low light and at cooler temperatures than many predators tolerate, which is what makes them useful across such a wide range of crops and seasons. A larva passes through three instars over roughly two to three weeks — and that entire window is the working life you are buying.

Life cycle

The adult has a different job

An adult green lacewing eats no pests at all. Its contribution is reproductive: a female lays more than 400 eggs, placed near pest hot spots so the next generation of larvae hatches where the food is. That is why feeding adults matters — without pollen, nectar, or another suitable food source they will not breed, and a supplement such as Wheast™ can be provided to keep them laying. If you are counting on lacewings to establish rather than act once, the adults need something to eat.

Why this format ships larvae, and why the timing is tight

Buying larvae means buying the hunting stage directly — no waiting for eggs to hatch, and predators feeding on the day of release. The trade-off is the clock. The eggs behind this bottle were incubated at the insectary and have already hatched by the time it reaches you, so the two-to-three-week predatory window is running before you open it. Held over, the larvae spend part of their working life in the carrier rather than in your crop, and then pupate into adults that eat nothing. That is the reason for the same-day release rule, and the reason cold storage is not an option here the way it is for some other beneficials.

Getting even coverage from the bottle

The buckwheat mixed in with the larvae is a carrier, and its job is distribution: it gives the larvae something to sit in so they can be sprinkled thinly rather than poured. Rotate the bottle gently before you start so the contents are evenly mixed, then walk the area and sprinkle steadily, weighting release points toward the pest hot spots. Larvae tipped out in a few heaps have to disperse before they can start hunting, which spends part of a working life that is already short — and unlike a hexcell frame, where each larva sits in its own cell until you tap it out, a loose carrier gives you no separation to fall back on. Even coverage is the whole advantage of this format.

How far a bottle of 1,000 goes

Run your own square footage against the release-rate table above before ordering. At the Medium rate of 4 to 8 larvae per 10 sq. ft., a bottle of 1,000 treats roughly 1,250 to 2,500 sq. ft. At the High rate of 1 per sq. ft. it treats about 1,000 sq. ft. — a single pass over a small house, a propagation area, or a hot spot in a larger crop. For repeated applications across a big planting, the bulk formats are the more practical buy.

Disclosures

Live product

Beneficial Insectary strives to guarantee the live delivery of the freshest organisms to our customers. We offer replacements or credits for any compromised shipments to customers who report issues or concerns within 24 hours. These issues or concerns must be relayed before releasing any organisms suspected of having viability issues. Please do not discard the product — you may be asked to return the shipment for further analysis.

Establishment of beneficials in crop settings

Many variables can affect biological control agent (BCA) and pest populations in the crops we work with — pesticide applications, watering practices, improper storage, and cultural, physical, or mechanical controls among them. Some beneficial organisms need a steady pest presence as a food source to build their population; others need alternate food such as pollen or nectar; still others have specific photoperiod requirements. Because of these variables, we cannot guarantee the short- or long-term establishment of the BCAs we sell once the organisms have been released. We do not offer refunds, discounts, or other credits on products that have already been released. Please refer to our live-product disclosure above.