Lacewing

Delicate pale-green insects with long, lace-like transparent wings and golden eyes. The adults sip nectar, but their alligator-shaped larvae — nicknamed 'aphid lions' — devour aphids, mites, thrips, whiteflies, and small caterpillar eggs.

• Small green insects with lacy wings resting on leaves.
• Tiny white eggs on thread-like stalks on the undersides of leaves — those are lacewing eggs.
• Aphid and whitefly numbers dropping without any spraying.

• Plant dill, fennel, yarrow, cosmos, and sweet alyssum to feed the adults.
• Tolerate a few aphids — the larvae need something to eat.
• Avoid broad-spectrum insecticides that kill lacewings along with pests.