Diversity and abundance of lacewings (Neuroptera: Chrysopidae) in Portuguese vineyards

Lacewings (Neuroptera: Chrysopidae) are important predators of harmful arthropods in the vineyards. They are natural limiting agents of leafhoppers (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae), grapevine moths (Lepidoptera), mealybugs (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae) and spider mites (Acari).The present work aimed to study the diversity and abundance of lacewings in Portuguese vineyards’. In 2018 and 2019, samplings were carried out in the canopy and in the ground cover vegetation of 35 vineyards located in different regions of the mainland Portugal in three different periods (late spring, summer, and autumn) using an entomological sweep net. Lacewings were identified to the taxonomic genus. In the total of samplings, 252 adult individuals were captured, belonging to five genera: Chrysoperla, Pseudomallada, Nineta, Cunctochrysa, and Italochrysa. The most abundant genera were Chrysoperla and Pseudomallada, representing 71.4% of the individuals captured, while the least abundant were Cunctochrysa and Italochrysa, with 13.9% of the individuals captured. The canopy presented a significantly higher percentage of captures in relation to ground cover vegetation (86.5%). In both years, summer and autumn represented the periods with more percentage of captures. The results obtained can contribute to the implementation of strategies to promote conservation biological control of vineyard pests.