Please help me identify insect eggs - Ask Extension
I’ve had trouble all year with my Swiss chard. The leaves are damaged by some type of pest I’ve been unable to identify. At first, I suspected slu...
Knowledgebase
Please help me identify insect eggs #594404
Asked September 04, 2019, 2:01 PM EDT
I’ve had trouble all year with my Swiss chard. The leaves are damaged by some type of pest I’ve been unable to identify. At first, I suspected slugs, but there are no trails and slug mitigation hasn’t made a difference. If I dispose of the damaged leaves, I can get up to three days of damage free crop. Today, I finally found both eggs and bugs on a leaf. The white eggs were individually attached by 1/8” upright strands of ?silk? and move around (maybe from a breeze?) I also found little black specks in another section of the leaf and leaf damage. Again, the damage has occurred all year, but this is the first time I’ve found eggs or bugs. Ok to make this public. Phone won’t allow me to check the box.
Clackamas County Oregon
Expert Response
Can you submit a photo of the eggs to this question? It is not easy to identify eggs only.
My phone tells me my last message ran into a problem, so skipping vid and sending photos only. Hopefully that will help. Please note, the eggs are attached to the leaf via some type of filament and actually move around in the breeze.
Your description is a match for lace wings, considered “good guys” in our gardens. Here is a prior answer about them. Internet search “lace wing eggs” images for some great photos and to see if they match what you are seeing.
https://extension.oregonstate.edu/gardening/techniques/green-lacewings-aphid-killers-rescue
Leaf miners are a common threat to Swiss chard in home gardens. Row covers and destroying affected leaves are recommended cultural controls. Internet search should show images or leaf miner damage.
https://pnwhandbooks.org/insect/vegetable/vegetable-pests/hosts-pests/chard-swiss-leafminer