In some, a female injects eggs into the host. In any case, happily for us, these bad-bug eaters go through this cycle several times a year. Attract them with wild carrot, yarrow, dill and sweet alyssum. Several hundred eggs are possible per female though midsummer. The larvae, which hatch out in two to three days, feed voraciously for two to three weeks, then pupate on nearby foliage or in the soil below.
Adults emerge in about two weeks.
This can recur six or seven times per year. Adults feed on honeydew, pollen and nectar. Attract them with nectar-producing flowers and weeds. During spring, females lay oval eggs attached to foliage by long, thin filaments. These hatch in three to five days.