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for this fit of generosity in providing our Editor with some much needed copy for the
newsletter. In my opening paragraph I referred to a green lacewing that hibernates and is
often found inside houses and sheds, etc.. This is the common green lacewing
Chrysoperla carnea which was discovered as new to science in London during 1836 by
the famous entomologist Stephens. It occurs throughout the length and breadth of the
British Isles, from Shetland to the Channel Islands, from Lowestoft to the Dingle. It is
numerically abundant throughout its range which, on a wider scale includes the entire
Holarctic region (in USA they call it C. plorabunda). Or is it?
Recently, french entomologist Patrice Leraut examined the type specimens (the actual
specimens used to give the first ever description of the species when it was first
discovered) of a number of species of Chrysoperla and realised that what we have been
calling Ch. carnea is in fact a complex of no fewer that four separate species!!! Three of
these are present in Britain. The true carnea it seems, is in fact incredibly rare here. The
commonest by far is the one I have called species B above (it was so named by Leraut in
his work - since then the name of Chrysoperla kolthoffi has been applied to it but a
recent paper by Stephen Brooks at the Natural History Museum shows that this is not the
correct name as kolthoffi is already in use for a Japanese species). We also have Ch.
lucasina in this country and this is quite hard to separate from species B. The fourth
segregate, Ch. renoni is a rare species of damp areas along the Mediterranean seaboard
and would not be expected in Britain.
All this leaves us with a bit of a problem. The accompanying map shows that what we
have to date been calling Ch. carnea is well distributed. But the evidence to hand
suggests that the true Ch. carnea is indeed quite rare and it is not, so far, recorded for
either of the Essex vice counties. Species B is recorded in Essex, however, and appears
quite widespread and common. So far, I have not encountered any Essex examples of Ch.
lucasina.
Chrysoperla carnea