The green lacewings in Belgium (Neuroptera: Chrysopidae)

There are merely three published sources of information on the green lacewings in Belgium. The first two were written by a Belgian and a Catalan author at the beginning of the 20th century and the third was published in 1980. Interestingly, the most recent study reported the fewest species (11), the most previous contained 12 and the second one showed 17 species. This confused situation and the paucity of data initiated the authors to identify the green lacewing collection of the Gembloux University of Agricultural Sciences, where lacewings from different parts of Belgium were preserved, and also to collect chrysopids regularly. Summarising the species reported in the literature and caught during sampling, 18 green lacewing species have been verified in Belgium: Nothochrysa fulviceps, Nothochrysa capitata, Hypochrysa elegans, Nineta flava, Nineta vittata, Nineta pallida, Chrysotropia ciliata, Chrysopa perla, Chrysopa dorsalis, Chrysopa abbreviata, Chrysopa formosa, Chrysopa phyllochroma, Chrysopa pallens, Dichochrysa flavifrons, Dichochrysa prasina, Dichochrysa ventralis, Chrysoperla carnea, Cunctochrysa albolineata. Considering the known references, one species, Nineta pallida proved to be new for the Belgian fauna.