Tiny Black Eggs On Plant Leaves – Focus On Signs Of Damage

It’s not good news if you see tiny black eggs on plant leaves, as they can signify incoming insect damage. We are talking about eggs of small size in black color. Maybe they belong to squash bugs, aphids, lace bugs, or shield bugs. The size of the eggs is tiny. You will often see eggs in 0.4 inches, which is pretty hard to realize. Eggs will grow in clusters or rows. Some eggs look striped in plastic-like cups. According to Cornell University’s study, no more than 1 percent of familiar insects in the garden are damaged.

Tiny black eggs on plant leaves are mainly from some types of insects. Here is the list of insects whose eggs you often see on leaves.

Shield Bugs

Shield bugs, or we can call them to stink bugs, are insects that lay eggs in black or reddish color. The place they often choose to lay eggs is a fringe around the top. The number of eggs at one time is from 20 to 30 eggs. Let’s find out some information about this type of insect.

‘Shield bugs eat sawflies, moths, beetles, and weevil species that destroy harvest and ornamental plants. They are good insects because they’re beneficial. Shield bugs have four wings with a large, triangular, green, or brown plate on the back. You can differentiate some species by seeing brightly colored marks on the shields.

Treatment: BioNeem can disrupt the mating and feeding process of shield bugs. You can use gloves or a clean towel to wipe out all the eggs on the leaves to keep them healthy. This will prevent them from laying more eggs.

Lace Bugs

Adult lace bugs have a size of 0.12 to 0.25 inches. You see that they have light-colored bodies and ornate, lacy wings. Lace bugs lay eggs in the spring. You will see their black eggs on the leaves. Lace bugs’ seasoning is spring.

The newly hatched nymphs have three weeks to eat and grow before they become winged adult bugs. This species lives mainly on walnut trees, hawthorn, and chokeberry shrubs. They eat leaves, but this doesn’t affect plants much. The plant doesn’t die of lace bugs. Their enemies are lady beetles and green lacewings.

Treatment: Super easy. You can use a sprayer to spray them off the leaves or the foliage you find them. It’s best not to use pesticides/insecticides or spray off lace bugs. We don’t need those chemicals. Chemicals like those are strong enough to harm insects and people, as seen in the Paraquat case. On the other hand, you can drop a few lady beetles in the garden to get rid of lace bugs.

Read more: Yellow Fuzzy Bugs On Squash Plants – How To Protect Your Garden.

Squash Bugs

Squash bugs don’t stink bugs; both bugs give off a smell to fight against enemies or feel endangered. The size of the adult squash bug is 5/8 inches in length. They have a black or gray body with brown and orange stripes on edge.

Squash bugs eat pumpkin and squash leaves with their piercing mouthparts. Attacked leaves will wilt, dry out and fall off. Therefore, plants are affected and weakened. Squash bugs lay eggs. At first, eggs have a color of dark reddish-brown. They steadily become black. Squash bugs lay eggs on the underside of leaves. You can find eggs in a v-shape formation. The eggs’ color gets darker when they are about to hatch.

Treatment: The most natural way is to remove these bugs using gloves. Please pick them up and put them in a bottle/ can to throw away. You can also use some light soap water to spray them off.

Read more: 12 Home Remedies for Cucumber Beetles – Cut Down the Damage

Aphids

Aphids are against ladybugs, hoverflies, lacewings, and parasitic wasps. This species has a soft body and chewing mouthparts. They can attack the harvest on a large scale and cause utter devastation, especially to plants grown in the spring. You should make use of natural enemies to control the number of aphids.

Aphids release drops of black sticky liquid. They look like the eggs of insects. Drops appeal to sooty mold, which makes leaves black. Ants come to and eat the drops of sugary honeydew. During the warmer months, aphids give birth to about five young insects per day.

Treatment: There are many ways to eliminate aphids in your garden. You can either use neem oil or pesticides/insecticides. To dive deeper into this topic, I think I will have an article about how to get rid of aphids in your garden soon!

More valuable tips in this video:

Prevention

• You should soon observe your garden and find tiny black eggs on plant leaves. The intensity of eggs can give hints about harmful insects. You have to protect your plants and prevent waves of insect attacks before they spread wider.
• Use natural enemies or beneficial insects.
• It would be best not to use broad-spectrum insecticides that may kill beneficial and harmful insects.
• Attract insectivorous birds by hanging feeders during the months when insects mate, lay eggs, and provide nesting boxes.

Final Words

The fight, which is for the garden’s peace, is fierce. You must remove the eggs of insects before they hatch and grow up. When they become adult bugs, killing them and controlling the damage is more challenging. Stopping the infestation is very important. Keep an eye on your plants!