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Type specimens of Neotropical Chrysopidae are currently held in two Italian natural history museums. Four are in the Museo Regionale di Scienze Naturali (MRSN), Torino, and five are in the Museo Civico di Storia Naturale “Giacomo Doria” (MSNG), Genova. Together, these nine specimens also represent all of the known New World types of Chrysopidae housed in Italian museums. All were described by Longinos Navas between 1922 and 1932, and all are now in relatively good condition. Here, we catalog and provide images of each specimen, designate lectotypes, and offer current taxonomic and nomenclatural information on the species represented by each. Two nomenclatural changes are proposed: (1) Chrysopa mainerii Navas, 1929, previously considered incertae sedis, is synonymized with Ceraeochrysa everes (Banks, 1920), n. syn.; (2) Chrysopa barberina Navas, 1932, also previously incertae sedis, is identified as Chrysoperla barberina (Navas, 1932), n. comb.

In order to anaesthetize insects in a laboratory, chilling and application of diethyl ether and carbon dioxide are commonly used. However none of the above methods is problem free. In particular, the use of diethyl ether, despite its simplicity, is now limited due to its poor safety. In our research, we evaluated ethyl acetate as an alternative anaesthetic substance. The effects of ethyl acetate anaesthesia were compared with those produced by carbon dioxide on adult green lacewings (Neuroptera: Chrysopidae). The biological parameters measured were longevity and fecundity. No significant differences appeared between the two treatments and the control. Although further research is necessary, the use of ethyl acetate proves to be very promising and presents a valid alternative to the use of diethyl ether and, in many cases, also to carbon dioxide and chilling.

In this review, we will do an historical detour focused on the plentiful attempts of giving a systematic classification to Chrysoperla carnea. The systematic puzzle of this genus saw numerous resolution attempts; from the beginning of '900, with the subdivision of the Chrysopidae family in roughly ten well-characterised and easily distinguishable genera; passing through the use of various chromatic and morphological characters which increased the systematic chaos; to this day, with the bioacustic research focused on the "carnea" group, carried out in the last 30 years by Charles S. Henry. Henry's research led his group to theorise the existence of a cryptic species complex, which sexual selection mechanism would strictly follow mating song affinity between partners, thus constituting the only barrier to hybridisation. In addition, genetic identification problems hinder the use of molecular barcoding using mitochondrial genes; thus, the conclusion is that, at the moment, the only way to identify species is through mating song analysis. As a final remark, we underline that a possible solution to this enigma could come from the new frontiers of genomics, as these could lead to a way to explore the deep molecular differences between the "carnea" cryptic species, potentially providing new, more precise identification methods

Sweeten our crops. Sustain a high diversity of beneficials through "sweet food" from plants. A sweet tooth overhangs the terrestrial ecosystems, it is nursed by plants constantly producing pollen and nectar and indirectly honeydew and honey. Truly the "green" Earth is "a land flowing with milk and honey" for myriads of species: from lizards to bees, from birds to flies, from man to ants, through marsupials, beetles, bats and so on. This sweet plant-provided food is the powerful basis of pollination and of many other multi-trophic interactions.

The author briefly gives information about the green lacewings as beneficials, with notes on features and behaviour, role as pest predators, common species on crops and orchards, methods of environment management

In this paper we describe an innovative, low-cost, small-scale green lacewing (Neuroptera Chrysopidae) rearing method developed in our laboratories over a decade. Our method proves to be adaptable from a small laboratory to a local farmer's insectary and its innovative aspects could be adopted in (and/or adapted to) mass rearing systems.