What might I expect to hatch from these?
June 10, 2013 7:14 PM   Subscribe

Cleaning my balcony yesterday, I overturned a bench to find these small eggs attached by a fine, stiff filament (or if not egg sacs, what, fungus maybe?). I'd like to know what will be issuing from them. I'm in Sydney, Australia.
posted by unliteral to Science & Nature (2 answers total) 2 users marked this as a favorite
 
Best answer: They look like some sort of lacewing eggs to me. But I have no grasp of Australian insects, let alone specific lacewings.
Edited to add, as it's Australian, it's either going to be spectacular and dreadfully poisonous, or just spectacular, or just poisonous.
posted by Cold Lurkey at 7:20 PM on June 10, 2013


Response by poster: That was fast! Nice one, Cold Lurkey. Definite keepers:
They have small spines on their backs upon which they impale the remains of prey. This provides a form of camouflage and allows the larvae to appear inconspicuous amongst the prey.

Lacewing larvae are particularly effective at controlling aphids and can consume 60 aphids in an hour. They will also attack mealybugs, greenhouse whitefly, thrips, twospotted mite, small caterpillars and moth eggs.
posted by unliteral at 7:48 PM on June 10, 2013


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