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Are these eggs of a beneficial insect to be protected or destructive insect that should be destroyed #817161

Asked December 02, 2022, 11:39 AM EST

Hi: The attached photo shows a cluster of what I am assuming are insect eggs attached to my brick house. They do not appear to be an egg mass of the dreaded spotted lantern fly. But perhaps they are of an equally destructive insect. And or course, if they are of a beneficial insect, I want to make sure they are protected. Using my wife's smart phone's seek application, the result showed "insects" but nothing more specific. Any idea what specific insect type the eggs belong to? If not, I will leave them alone just in case they are beneficial insects. Thanks!

Carroll County Maryland

Expert Response

Indeed, these are not Spotted Lanternfly eggs, but instead look like the egg mass of the Wheel Bug, a native insect that is a predator and is considered beneficial in gardens. (Even though, like many generalist predators, they can eat anything they can catch, which could be a pest like Japanese Beetle or a pollinator like a bee.) For comparison, a few images of egg masses are included in the linked gallery (fairly far down on that page). You can leave the eggs attached to the brick, since they won't hurt anything and likely won't be able to be re-attached to another surface if they were moved.

Miri

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