1988] Eisner & Silberglied — Chrysopid larva 17 
Closeup observation of C. cincta larvae that we took with colo- 
nies of Plotococcus to a laboratory setting (Archbold Biological 
Station, Lake Placid, Florida) enabled us to determine that the 
larvae do indeed construct their packets from wax that they pluck 
from mealybugs. We removed packets from several larvae with for- 
ceps, and then observed how they rebuilt their packets when we 
returned them to their hosts. Most commenced packet construction 
at once. They approached individual mealybugs, most often 
filament-bearing females, and grasped one or more of the filaments 
with their curved mandibles. They then pulled back, grasping a load 
of wax powder in the process, together with occasional filaments 
that became detached. Finally they flexed the head sharply over the 
abdomen, and deposited the load directly on their back. They often 
arched the back upward at the same time, so as to bring it within 
reach of the mandibles. Load after waxy load they sequestered in 
this fashion, shifting from mealybug to mealybug as they plucked 
away, until their packet was complete. At times they supplemented 
their gatherings with scoopings of wax and debris from the leaf 
surface, but mealybug wax seemed to take priority for all larvae. 
In feeding, the chrysopids seemed to prefer the younger stages of 
the mealybug. They consumed mostly “crawlers” and other early 
instars, and appeared to avoid the larger filament-bearing forms. 
We did not observe chrysopids adding sucked-out prey remains to 
their dorsal packets, perhaps because such packets were already 
fully formed in individuals we noted feeding. Packets that we had 
removed from individuals used in the reloading tests, when teased 
apart, did show presence of whole-mealybug remains. 
Ceraeochrysa cincta is evidently a “trash-carrier,” a member of 
that large group of chrysopids whose larvae all build dorsal packets 
from exogenous materials, including vegetable matter, arthropod 
remains, and general debris (DeWitz, 1885; Killington 1936, 1937; 
Slocum and Lawrey, 1976; Smith, 1922). Use of homopteran wax 
for packet construction is not without precedent. Chrysopa slosso- 
nae, an obligate predator of the wooly alder aphid, Prociphilus 
tesselatus, plucks wax from its prey and builds a dense shield from 
this material, which protects it against ants (Eisner et ah, 1978). C. 
cincta may be similarly protected by its packet, possibly against 
other predators as well. The camouflage itself, by reducing conspic- 
uousness to visually oriented predators, including perhaps birds, 
which might be expected to ignore mealybugs, could provide a first 
line of defense. 
