Taking a closer look at insect eggs

Robert and ogdenjj - welcome, and thanks for following my blog!

*I don't know how this post will appear, because there were several html code errors that I couldn't fix. Anyway, here goes!

Today's post is gonna be about the eggs of some of the most destructive garden insects in the garden, and I hope you enjoy it!

Stinkbugs are found daily in my garden, but noticeably more frequently on tomatoes, cucumbers, corn, and okra than most other things. Regardless of how many egg clusters that are found (then squished), it seems that a few are always missed somehow. The eggs are pearly white, and quite beautiful if you ask me....I know, pretty weird - but how does an adult stinkbug lay them so perfectly aligned? I'm amazed at the whole process....Typically, we have the green stinkbug variety where we live, and here's a picture I took of one the other day...

Anyway, these were found on a pod of okra the other day while harvesting, and a picture was hastily taken. I immediately knew what it was - stinkbug eggs....

Photo below - thanks to a microscope with photographic capabilities, here's what they look like much closer. The little "ring" on top of each one is the doorway to their new world, but none of these are ready to hatch yet.....Finding any of the eggs before they hatch is perhaps the best way to keep them from ruining your gardening efforts. Each evening, I just play with Jude and inspect the bottom side of leaves for any eggs, then crush them with my fingers. Hehe....I really take it to 'em! Afterall - i'm the "EG-nator"...hehe.

Photo below - now, it's time for some caterpillars - most notably the tomato fruitworm, and fall armyworm. These 2 worms cause the most damage to my tomatoes each year, because they hatch out in such high numbers - and can ruin a crop pretty fast, too! The tomato fruitworm (or corn earworm as it's frequently called) are enemy #1 around here, because they actually bore into the fruit - completely ruining each one, of course. Here are the eggs as they appear on leaves.....

                                         

                                          

I find some everyday, and all of the ones in the previous photos were found just in the last 4 days...Yeah - trust me, you have them too...

Now...let me show you what they look like up close. Actually, they're quite beautiful, and almost look like beads for some type of jewelry or something....

In the photo above, you can actually see the caterpillars as they begin to hatch out. The eggs themselves look so fragile - as you can see some of the paper thin spheres have already been opened. Pretty freaky, huh? Ha! I'll try to get some magnified photos of them when all have hatched, because I still need to identify which eggs belong to a certain species of caterpillar.

In other insect news, i've found the first squashbugs for the year while they were doing the "big nasty"on my yellow crookneck plant, and ended their happiest moment right then and there. It's quite strange that none showed up until the middle of July, as most years are unbelievable before the middle of June. I'll have to inspect the plants daily now just to stay ahead of them, but that's no problem at all.....I love killing squashbugs!

Take care, and happy bug hunting!

EG