Kevin Firth, my caterpillar guru sent me these photographs, asking "Do you know anyone who's into Neuropterans? I found
this at the porch light this morning, some kind of beaded lacewing
(Lomamyia)." I knew this was out of my league so as they say in Breaking Bad, "I know a guy what knows a guy.....", in this case several guys I sent this on to.
My resources quickly narrowed it down to Lomamyia flavicornis or L. banksi, the only two species occurring in Missouri. David Bowles settled on L. flavicornis. The common name is yellow-horned beaded lacewing.
Lomamyia is a genus of beaded lacewings in the family Berothidae. Some species have a unique method of capturing their prey that warms the heart of this retired gastroenterologist.
"Eggs are stalked, laid on wood surfaces near termite nests. Larvae live with and prey on termites, using an immobilizing gas (containing an allomone) discharged from their anus(3)(6)(Johnson & Hagen 1981). Adults come to lights." Bugguide
That is right, a fatal fart! The Rainforestsite has a more colorful description with details of what they refer to as "survival of the grossest." Within three minutes the termite is stunned and it dies in 3 hours. The lacewing larva can save it for a snack later in the day.
A single dose can kill up to six termites. The termites are three times the size of the lacewing larva, a David and Goliath story in rotting wood. Studies have shown no apparent harm to other species that live in the termite tunnels. They aimed the larval gas at fruit flies, two kinds of small wasp, and book lice and it showed no effect. How you aim a 7mm larva and convince it to let fly on command is what excites an entomologist. Seeing that these weren't termites the larva may have withheld the dose. I could say its fart wasn't in it, but I think I will let that pass.
