The taxonomic status of green lacewings of the Chrysoperla carnea group from Africa and the Arabian Peninsula is investigated using comparative analyses of substrate‐borne vibrational songs, adult morphology, larval morphology and ecology. For the first time, the courtship song of C. zastrowi (Esben‐Petersen) is described and compared to the songs of other Eurasian taxa. This South African species is the only known representative of the carnea group from the Southern Hemisphere, yet both acoustically and morphologically it shows a striking resemblance to a previously undescribed song morph, Cc5, from the Arabian Peninsula. In fact, Cc5 and C. zastrowi are so much alike that they are here considered to be a single species, characterized by single‐volley songs of relatively long duration and carrier frequencies that lack complex harmonics and that sweep downward during the course of each volley. The two taxa also share several other traits, including nomadic habits, light green colour, identically shaped external genitalia in the male, small basal claw dilation, similar markings on the genae, clypeus and frons of the adult head, and similar larval head markings. However, the taxa are sufficiently different in song, morphology and geographic distribution that they are best considered distinct subspecies. Cc5 is, therefore, formally described as C. zastrowi arabica n. subsp., leaving the nominate species as C. zastrowi zastrowi. We surmise that C. zastrowi likely originated from Cc5 or a Cc5‐like ancestor in the Northern Hemisphere, where all other members of the carnea group of cryptic species are presently found.