Create a lacewing home

You Will Need

• Recycled plastic bottle
• Scissors
• String
• Stick around 1cm in diameter from the garden
• Sheet of old cardboard

Total time: 20 minutes

Step 1

Cut the bottom end off your plastic bottle.

Step 2

Use scissors to poke two holes either side of the hole you've just created, in the end of the bottle.

Step 3

Roll up your cardboard and insert it into the bottle. If it's too long to fit in the bottle, trim a bit off and try again.

Step 4

Stop the cardboard falling out the end by poking the stick through both holes, holding the cardboard in place.

Step 5

Tie string around the lip just below the lid of your bottle, then hang from a shrub or tree in the garden – even better if it's one that suffers from pest damage.

Lacewing lifecycle

• Mated female lacewings emerge from winter hibernation in spring
• Once prey are located, the female lays eggs nearby that are held individually on the end of a hardened mucus thread
• After around five days the eggs hatch and larvae seek out prey to eat and moult as they grow larger
• After a further 15-20 days, the larvae are fully grown and create cocoons in which to pupate
• Within two weeks the adults hatch, mate and start the cycle again – several generations in a year are possible