Ceraeochrysa caligata (Banks, 1945) is one of the several species of Ceraeochrysa Adams, 1982 that occur in agroecosystems of the Neotropical region and show potential for use in biological control programs. However, little is known about its biology, partly because of the poor status of the systematics of this group. To help in the identification of C. caligata and to contribute with additional characters for future phylogenetic studies with the genus, here we characterize the variations in relation to the pattern of integument markings originally described for the adults and larvae and redescribe the three larval instars, including characters not considered in the original description, especially the number of setae in the tubercles and somatic segments. We also present preliminary results regarding the nature of the variation in the pattern of adult markings.
Adult and larval polymorphism; biological control; green lacewing; morphology; systematics
