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Photo#1899164
Tiny Eggs
Copyright © 2020 Nick Wiser

Tiny Eggs
Eugene, Lane County, Oregon, USA
September 27, 2020
Size: ~0.5mm
Tiny eggs with grooves on them found on the netting around a trampoline in the neighbor's backyard. It was very hard to even see that they were eggs, and not just dirt or mud.

There were several groups of eggs, each with at least 200 eggs in each. The eggs came in black, brown, and white.

They are similar in shape to the egg pictures I saw on google when I searched "corn earworm eggs". Whatever it is, I assume it is from some kind of very small moth.

Images of this individual: tag all
Tiny Eggs Tiny Eggs Tiny Eggs Tiny Eggs Tiny Eggs Tiny Eggs Tiny Eggs Tiny Eggs Tiny Eggs Tiny Eggs
Contributed by Nick Wiser on 27 September, 2020 - 11:49pm
Last updated 17 October, 2020 - 7:55pm

Moved
Moved from Trichogrammatidae.
… Nick Wiser, 17 October, 2020 - 7:55pm

Moved
Moved from ID Request.
… Bob Zuparko, 12 October, 2020 - 10:11am

corn earworm
Corn earworm moths are about the size of a quarter (not wingspan, body length) so not very tiny. I don't think that it looks the same color as it either, with a black head being a very separate color from its greenish body.

Placing the caterpillar (if it is one) on a plant leaf or putting various plant leafs with it, might work as food. Without identification it will be hard to know its diet.

Strange that eggs were laid on netting and not on a plant. I doubt it would be a borer moth or leaf miner since those lay eggs by or in host plants.
… minzi, 2 October, 2020 - 12:32am

 
Caterpillar
It moved just like an inchworm.

And it wasn't like just one group of eggs was on the netting, several were. Maybe I should take a leaf from each large plant in the neighbor's backyard.

I would assume that all of the eggs were there because the trampoline netting is large and takes up a lot of space in the yard. I'll try to check other nearby plants and see if they have any eggs on them.
… Nick Wiser, 2 October, 2020 - 1:35am

 
Inchworms are all Geometer fa
Inchworms are all Geometer family. I got this from thought co on geometer diets

"Geometer moth larvae feed on plants, with most species preferring woody trees or shrubs over herbaceous plants. Some cause significant forest defoliation"

A lot of them are considered pests.

The one you have seems very smAll compared to any I've seen. I think some people have trouble identifying even adult geometers so this one may be a bit hard to get an ID for.
… minzi, 2 October, 2020 - 8:16am

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