Using label data from 1,448 specimens of the giant lacewing Polystoechotes punctata (Fabricius 1793) (Neuroptera: Ithonidae) representing 849 individual occurrences from North American insect collections, literature, and online sources, we examined capture rates over time, phenology and historic and current distribution for Polystoechotes punctata. Captures spanned 1800 through 2018. They rose between the 1860s to a peak in the 1930s and declined thereafter with an increase since 2000 due to photographs posted online. Captures in the United States and Canada occurred April through November peaking in July and August with 47.6% of the records from August. There are no verified records of P. punctata from east of the Rocky Mountains for over 60 years. The loss rate from eastern North America was not uniform but appears to have occurred in three waves.