Wild Encounter: July 2022

First published in Sanctuary Cub, Vol. 42 No. 7, July 2022

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Photo Feature

Birth On A Bouquet
With each measuring about a millimetre in size, these pin-sized eggs placed gracefully on the ends of thin stalks are those of a green lacewing. These stalks are driven into twigs and leaves on vegetation, where aphids thrive in large numbers. In under a month, an adult female may lay over 200 eggs. Aside from feeding on pollen and honeydew, green lacewings are also underappreciated predators of many soft-bodied insects and eggs, and play a role in keeping the insect population in check. Photo: Shashwat Swami Jaiswal