10/10/2026
ENJOY BEAUTIFUL, BIODIVERSE MARLOTH THIS WEEKEND
This pretty, delicate and minute structure was spotted by HR Miemmie Byrch this week. It is not a plant or fungus, but rather the eggs of a Green lacewing insect (family ๐๐ฉ๐ณ๐บ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ช๐ฅ๐ข๐ฆ). The female secretes a drop of liquid โsilkโ, lays an egg at the end, and the slender filament hardens. This possibly protects the eggs from predators like ants, and its own larvae, which are mini hunters and even cannibals. The stalk prevents the first larva that hatches from eating the rest of the eggs!
Many thanks to insect guru Andrew Schild over at the page โInsects Only -- Southern Africaโ for confirming the identification.
Sources: https://www.youtube.com/
Insects Only โ Southern Africa: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1957214207908208
๐๐ช๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐๐ฐ๐ญ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ถ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐๐ข๐ค๐ฆ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฌ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐๐ฏ๐ด๐ต๐ข๐จ๐ณ๐ข๐ฎ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ง๐ฐ ๐ข๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ง๐ญ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ข ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ง๐ข๐ถ๐ฏ๐ข.
