What are these white things on threads? Eggs?

What are these tiny ones I noticed on a dryish twig of Peacock Flower plant.

These look like the eggs of a lacewing (Neuroptera: Chrysopidae) - see http://tinyurl.com/yhjra8a for an example. Supposedly, the stalks help protect the eggs against predation.

Haven't seen one l/w in recent times.

I really cannot think of any other insect that lays their eggs in such a fashion...

Okay, may be there are some lacewings that have escaped being seen by me. A couple of years back I had posted a lacewing picture, now I remember. I think also these eggs. Will dig out that thread in the same forum. There may be some clues there.

Dinu, my son did a biology project on lacewings....that is exactly what the egg cases looked like in his small lacewing house. They hatched out to be aphid lions (lacewing larva) and grew into a healthy crop of lacewings for our garden.

http://entnemdept.ufl.edu/fasulo/woodypest/224.htm

Thanks moon for the link.

You are very welcome, Dinu. Glad you have them in your garden

I've started to watch the eggs everyday now, closely, as it is easily seen on the tip of a branch and so no need to search!

They have gone out! Note the tips of the eggs. Where are the babes gone now?

How cool. They have dispersed into the garden to feed and grow and hopefully start a whole new generation of lacewings in your garden. Grin

Hope to see them this time round. I just dug up my archives and found a file named lacewing. It was taken more than two years back. Is this the one? I have a pic of the eggs too taken around that time.

This link is for the common lacewing http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/NE/green_lacewing.html I do know that the brown lacewing is smaller than the green lacewing

The picture you sent looks rather like a damselfly, but not exactly..

http://travel.mongabay.com/madagascar/images/madagascar_1611.html

Thanks, but notice the *antennae* in my picture.

The antennae were the Not Exactly part...grin I am sure Suunto can identify the picture of the brown one

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/712263/

Found my old thread.

Thanks for that...nice to know I was not completely in left field...laughed when the text said the antlion and the damselfly looked alike except for the antennae...they are both very beneficial though.

I have seen green lacewings in my garden very occasionally, but not in recent times, but I notice these egg sacs on foliage. This is taken last week. The eggs had hatched. The link is useful: http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/galveston/beneficials/beneficial-13_green_lacewing.htm

Here is what I think is a larva. I searched after seeing a similar image of it in the link I just gave above.

It sounds like your lacewings are playing hide and go seek, Dinu. But at least when you see the eggs you know they are around. Nice pic of the aphid lion (larva).

The larva in your last image is that of a lady beetle such as Anegleis cardoni -
http://www.angelfire.com/bug2/j_poorani/anegl.jpg

I can see where the confusion might set in...this pic is identified as a lacewing larva...

http://www.biconet.com/biocontrol/lacewing.html

Haven't seen a lacewing in the past year or so.

What a happy conversation to drop in on and thanks for asking the question Dinu. For a few years, i've found little white balls on the ends of filament and wondered what they were but never got around to posting the question. I've found them not only on vegetable matter but on plant containers, glass, plastic, etc. Now i'll pay more attention to them to see how them develop. And thank you Moon for the information...very much appreciated!

I deliberately dig up some old threads and bring them up because there are always newer members entering this lovely world of DG. So they will have something new to see.
Vitrsna, thanks for looking at this. Please take photos as much as you can. It always helps. Your skipper on Cosmos made me think it was in my garden! I don't have cosmos right now, but they grew wildly 2 years and before. My garden has changed now this year. I've all the stories posted in my DG blog. We are in almost the same zone 10. Great to know you.

And i am happy to know you too Dinu...actually i have seen a number of photos you have posted on various forums (i think mostly on the insect id forum) and your photos are always memorable with a very special quality to them. Next time i see these little white eggs on filament i'll take a photo and post it here. Would you like me to send you some Cosmos sulphurous (i don't think that's spelled quite right)...any way yellow and gold Cosmos seeds? I have lots! We should be able to grow many of the same plants. I have a butterfly garden that the hummingbirds and bees like as well as the butterflies because of the good nectar plants as well as host plants for the butterflies. I have mostly wild plants native to Mexico.

Hi Vitrsna....isn't Nature grand? So many little oddities. Good to see you.

Dinu, bringing back old threads like this one not only brings back memories, but also recycles information, Good on you.

vitrsna,
Pleased to hear that you already saw my photos and even appreciated them! Thanks for that. But for DG and its wonderful members, I wouldn't have been what I'm today, 11 years on! The orange cosmos spreads a lot. Nice to hear about your garden. My request to you is to share some photos. There are no hummingbirds here. We have sunbirds, tailorbird, bulbul, myna etc. We can have a chat on D-mail.

Moony [hope you don't mind me calling this!],
Yes, you have understood my intention of raking things up......... it is like compost, you see! (-:

No Dinu, I do not mind at all. Most all of my friends call me Moon or Moonie (y)....it rhymes well with Loonie....grin


And the more you "turn" your compost, the better it becomes... 8-)

Loonie-Moonie! ;-) You are right.

Back to lacewings. I just now found a picture I had not posted here. Spotted and shot in 2007.

They are such delicate, pretty little insects.

Not as proliferate as other creatures in the yard. They are very rare in my yard at least.

Perhaps that is the mark of a well tended garden....nothing for the larva to feed on....grin

Also, probably now I'm on the western side of the house where it gets full sun and half the garden is no longer present. The half property divided between brothers is now razed [including house - I continue to live in half the house after a partition wall was built - this was only 3 years ago]. There was my garden raised from nothing and had become green in 5-6 years. Now I only have about 25% of what it was earlier, w.r.t. plants and shrubs. As you know, I'm starting a new garden from June - have posted info on my DG blog. Have you seen it? I've kept an area near my pond a bit wild for such creatures also. It's the rainy season and hopefully we see more of such critters.

Yes, Loony Moon (personally, i would consider that high praise) ...Nature is indeed grand and mostly i am overwhelmed by the grandness of it practically every day...always good to chat with you.

Dinu, I'll put together some photos and send them to you via Dmail. I read your member page and you are an erudite and entertaining communicator as well as an excellent photographer.

vitrsna, I really don't know if I deserve such a high praise for what has been done through me, though LoonyMoony deserves it in full! :)
I'll look forward to your D-mail.

Dinu...I was writing my prior post as you were posting your latest. I'll read your DG blog. How difficult to loose so much of your garden! Some blessing that you have a portion left. I'll read your blog first and respond via Dmail. Maybe i have other seeds that i can send to you if you are not so interested in Cosmos. Maybe you can find all you need close to home, but it is good luck to plant seeds gifted by another gardener who understands how much of a loss it is.

Thank you both for your kind thoughts...(blushing)

I was in the garden most of the day and found these on a container...

o, i guess it would be a good idea to include the photo? duh...you have to look closely to see the filaments...