giant lacewing

giant lacewing (plural giant lacewings)

1. Any insect of the family Polystoechotidae.
   • 1995, Toronto Entomologists' Association, Ontario Insects, volumes 1-4, page 20:

     Judging by the material in Canadian insect collections, the giant lacewing, Polystoechotes punctatus, was a common insect in Ontario 50 years ago.

   • 1996, Gary A. Dunn, Insects of the Great Lakes Region‎, page 154:

     The punctured giant lacewing, Polystoechotes punctatus (Fabricius), the largest lacewing (greater than 35 mm) to inhabit the Great Lakes region, is quite rare.

   • 2005, David Grimaldi, Evolution of the Insects‎, page 349:

     The giant lacewings, family Polystoechotidae, comprise three or four extant and highly disjunct species restricted to the New World: Polystoechotes in Chile and North America (Figure 9.14), Platystoechotes in California, and Fontecilla in Chile (Carpenter, 1940; Oswald, 1998a).

• (any species of Polystoechotidae): polystoechotid