Have You Ever Seen These Bizarre Little Bug Eggs Here in Maine?

There's something about these little eggs that bothers me.

I can't quite put my finger on it, but the first time I ever saw these I thought it was some sort of alien being that was hatching small bugs to eventually take over our planet. Maybe that's a far stretch, but look at them! Or maybe it's that they give me a slight fear of microphobia, which is the fear of really small things. Maybe that's what nauseates me.

But, you may be flipping logs in the yard and see these, or under the steps of your deck. Heck, I even saw someone on Facebook that said they found them under the seat of their riding lawn mower. But you might miss them, they're so tiny. So what are they?

They're the eggs of green or brown lacewing flies. And that's a good thing.

So while they're a bit funny to look at, these eggs will eventually produce lacewing flies, which are no big deal. However, in between they go through their larval stage, and that's when they are the most useful to us Mainers. The larvae devour aphids, mites, and other small insects. They're even commonly referred to as "Aphid Lions" and you can even buy them commercially to put in your gardens. They look like this:

The adults aren't of any real consequence to us. But they do put out a pretty noxious smell if they're handled, according to Maine.gov. They're also attracted to light, so you just might see them gathered up around the old porch light in summer. The green version of the adults look like this:

So now you know. I've seen photos of the eggs making the rounds on social media, like I was saying. So now you can be the Cliff Claven of your group of friends and give them some useless facts about those weird little eggs under the porch. You're welcome.

Enjoy dining al fresco in one of these sweet spots...