Phil Bendle Collection:Lacewing (Dustywings) Cryptoscenea australiensis

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Hexapoda
Class: Insecta
Subclass: Dicondylia
Infraclass: Pterygota
Order: Neuroptera
Family: Coniopterygidae
Genus: Cryptoscenea
Species: C. australiensis
Binomial name: Cryptoscenea australiensis
Synonyms: Helicoconis australiensis
Common name: Dustywings

Cryptoscenea australiensis is a very small species of coniopterygidae lacewings and is the one species of Cryptoscenea that is shared with Australia. It has a length of less the 6mm. The wings are longer than the body and are held in steep `tent' over the body when at rest. The body, wings and appendages are usually with white or grey wax or `meal' secreted by wax glands on various parts of the body so that the insects superficially resemble whitefly (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae).
The female lays oval eggs singly on foliage or bark and they hatch in one to three weeks.
The larvae take a few weeks to a few months to develop. They spin flat, silken cocoons on vegetation. The predatory larvae have been recorded feeding on the eggs of Phenacoccus graminosus (a mealybug).

 

Thanks to Wikipedia for text and information: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

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