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Neuroptera
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==Life cycle and ecology== {|style="float:right;" |- |[[File:OsmylusLarva.jpg|thumb|125px|Larva of ''[[Osmylus fulvicephalus]]'', [[Osmylidae]]]] |[[File:SisyridaeLarva.jpg|thumb|125px|Larva of ''[[Sisyra]]'' sp., [[Sisyridae]]]] |} The larvae of most families are [[predator]]s. Many [[Chrysopidae|chrysopids]], [[Hemerobiidae|hemerobiids]] and [[Coniopterygidae|coniopterygids]] eat aphids and other [[pest insects]], and some have been used for [[biological control]] (either from commercial distributors, but also abundant and widespread in nature).<ref>{{cite book |last1=Senior |first1=L. J. |title=The use of lacewings in biological control |date=June 2001 |work=Lacewings in the Crop Environment |pages=296–302 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |doi=10.1017/cbo9780511666117.014 |isbn=978-0511666117 |last2=McEwen |first2=P. K.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Monserrat |first=Víctor J. |date=2015-12-30 |title=Los hemeróbidos de la Península Ibérica y Baleares (Insecta, Neuropterida, Neuroptera: Hemerobiidae) |journal=Graellsia |language=es |volume=71 |issue=2 |pages=026 |doi=10.3989/graellsia.2015.v71.129 |issn=1989-953X|doi-access=free}}</ref> Larvae in various families cover themselves in debris (including other insects, living and dead<ref>Powell, Erin. (2023). Defensive behaviors of the mealybug Nipaecoccus nipae (Maskell, 1893) (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae) and the green lacewing Ceraeochrysa claveri (Navás, 1911) (Neuroptera: Chrysopidae), with videos of dorsal packet loading and mealybug ostiole function. Insecta Mundi. 1–11. </ref>) as [[camouflage]], taken to an extreme in the [[ant lion]]s, which bury themselves completely out of sight and ambush prey from "pits" in the soil. Larvae of some [[Ithonidae]] are root feeders, and larvae of [[Sisyridae]] are aquatic, and feed on [[freshwater]] [[sponge]]s. A few [[mantispids]] are [[parasite]]s of [[spider]] egg sacs. As in other [[holometabolism|holometabolic]] orders, the [[pupa]]l stage is enclosed in some form of [[Pupa#Cocoon|cocoon]] composed of silk and soil or other debris. The pupa eventually cuts its way out of the cocoon with its mandibles, and may even move about for a short while before undergoing the [[ecdysis|moult]] to the adult form.<ref name=IIBD/> Adults of many groups are also predatory, but some do not feed, or consume only [[nectar]]. [[Beetle]]s, [[wasp]]s, and some [[lake flies]] [[parasitize]] neuropteran larvae. [[File:LacewingsLyd.png|thumb|left|upright=2|Lifecycle of lacewings]]{{clear}}
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