Bugs & Eggs
Insects, eggs, cocoons, and webs you can't place
Most of the insects, eggs, and cocoons you find in a yard are harmless — and plenty are actually working for you. But a cluster of yellow eggs under a tomato leaf, a web tent in a tree crotch, or a line of white bugs on a stem is worth identifying before you decide to act, because the right response ranges from "leave it alone" to "remove it today." These guides cover the finds American homeowners photograph most, with clear pointers on which ones are beneficial, which are pests, and which deserve a professional look.
Bugs & Eggs guides
Cicada Killer Wasps: Do They Sting, and Should You Worry? A very large wasp — 1.5 to 2 inches long, black with yellow bands — cruising low over your lawn in July or August is almost certainly a cicada killer, a solitary wasp that digs burrows in bare or sandy soil and hunts cicadas. Despite their alarming size, cicada killers are among the least dangerous stinging insects in your yard: males can't sting at all, and females sting only if grabbed or stepped on barefoot. Read the guide → Crane Fly: The Harmless Giant That Looks Like a Mosquito That huge, spindly-legged bug that looks like a giant mosquito is almost certainly a crane fly, and it is completely harmless. Adult crane flies don't bite, don't sting, and barely eat — they live only a few days to mate. Their soil-dwelling larvae, called leatherjackets, are the only part that can damage a lawn. Read the guide → Little Red Bugs: What They Are and Whether They Bite Tiny red bugs are usually clover mites, chiggers, red velvet mites, or red aphids, and where you find them tells you which. Bright-red specks massing on sunny walls, windowsills, and concrete are harmless clover mites that do not bite. Itchy welts after sitting in grass point to chiggers, the one type in this group whose bite you'll actually feel. Read the guide → Spotted Lanternfly: Egg Masses, Nymphs & Adults A gray, putty-like smear that looks like dried mud on a trunk, rock, or furniture is very likely a spotted lanternfly egg mass — and if you're seeing the insect itself, the black-and-white or red white-spotted nymphs (spring to summer) and gray spotted-winged adults (late summer) belong to the same pest. Spotted lanternfly is a highly invasive species under quarantine in many eastern states, so the right move at any stage is to confirm the ID, destroy what you find, and report the sighting rather than ignore or move it. Read the guide → Tiny Yellow Eggs Under Leaves: Pest or Friend? Tiny yellow eggs on the underside of leaves usually belong to squash bugs, ladybugs, Colorado potato beetles, or whiteflies. Identify them before you do anything — ladybug eggs look almost identical to pest eggs, and crushing them destroys one of the best aphid killers in your garden. Read the guide → Yellow Jacket Nest in the Ground: How to Know for Sure A single hole more than an inch across with a steady, busy stream of glossy yellow-and-black wasps flying straight in and out is almost always a yellowjacket ground nest. Watch the traffic from at least 10 feet away, keep everyone back, and leave treatment to a licensed professional — disturbing the nest triggers a mass sting attack. Read the guide → Bald-Faced Hornet Nest: How to Identify It and Stay Safe A gray, papery nest the size of a football or basketball hanging in a tree, in a shrub, or under an eave — fully enclosed except for one hole near the bottom — is the work of bald-faced hornets, black wasps with distinctive white face markings. They defend the nest aggressively and can sting repeatedly, so an active nest near doors, decks, or play areas is a job for a licensed pest professional, not a DIY project. Read the guide → Brown Egg Sacs on Branches: Mantis, Lanternfly, or Moth? A brown egg case on a branch is either very good news or very bad news: praying mantis egg cases (oothecae) are beneficial and should be left alone, while spotted lanternfly and spongy moth egg masses are invasive pests you should destroy — and in many states, report. Texture and shape tell them apart, so identify before you scrape. Read the guide → Clusters of Orange Eggs on Leaves: Crush or Leave? Clusters of orange eggs on leaf undersides most often belong to Colorado potato beetles on potatoes and tomatoes, or squash bugs on vine crops — both worth removing. But ladybugs lay very similar-looking yellow-orange clusters, and theirs should stay. Check the host plant and the egg shape before you crush anything. Read the guide → Gnats in Your Yard: What They Are and How to Stop Them Clouds of gnats in your yard almost always trace back to moisture: fungus gnats breed in damp soil and mulch, fruit flies gather around fallen fruit and compost, and biting no-see-ums or black flies come from standing or moving water. Whether they bite, where they cluster, and the time of day they appear will tell you which one you have — and the real fix is removing whatever breeding source is feeding them. Read the guide → Green Caterpillars on Plants: Which One Is Eating Yours? The green caterpillar on your plants is most likely a cabbage worm if it's on broccoli or kale, a tomato hornworm if it's large and has a tail spike, or a sawfly larva if it's on roses. Which plant is being eaten narrows it down fast, and handpicking plus row covers handle most of them — no spraying required. Keep in mind that some green caterpillars grow up to be butterflies worth keeping around. Read the guide → Ground Bees Nest: Bees or Wasps Nesting in the Lawn? Holes with insects nesting in your lawn or bare soil are usually solitary mining bees, bumblebees, cicada killers, or — the one to take seriously — yellowjackets. Whether you see one busy hole or a patch of many, the season, and how aggressive the traffic is will tell you which you have. The safe first step is always to identify from a distance before deciding what to do. Read the guide → Jumping Worms in Soil: Coffee-Ground Dirt and Thrashing Worms that thrash violently and whip side to side like a snake when uncovered, plus soil that looks like dry coffee grounds, are the two dead giveaways of invasive Asian jumping worms. They're harmless to people and pets but strip nutrients and ruin soil structure, so the goal is to confirm them, remove them, and avoid moving your soil or mulch elsewhere. Read the guide → June Bugs vs Japanese Beetles: How to Tell Them Apart June bugs and Japanese beetles are different insects that get mixed up because both are summer scarab beetles whose larvae are white lawn grubs. Telling them apart is easy once you know the tells: June bugs are reddish-brown, fly clumsily at night around porch lights in May and June, and do little visible damage as adults, while Japanese beetles are smaller, metallic green with copper wing covers, feed in broad daylight from June into August, and skeletonize the leaves of roses, grapes, and dozens of other plants. Read the guide → Red and Black Bugs on Your House: What Are They? Red and black bugs clustered on your house are most likely boxelder bugs, which gather by the hundreds on warm, sunny walls in fall while looking for winter shelter. Milkweed bugs, firebugs, and tiny red velvet mites are the usual look-alikes. None of them bite, sting, or damage the structure — the real nuisance is the ones that slip inside, and the ones you squash can leave stains. Read the guide → Shiny Green Beetles on Plants: Japanese Beetles or Friends? Shiny metallic-green beetles clustered on your plants are most often Japanese beetles, especially if they're piled on roses, grapes, or linden leaves in early summer and the foliage is turning to lace. Green June beetles, iridescent dogbane beetles, and quick-running tiger beetles are the usual look-alikes — and two of those are actually good news. Which beetle you have decides whether you act or leave it be. Read the guide → Small White Cocoons on Plants: Don't Destroy Them Yet Small white cocoons on your plants could be braconid wasp cocoons, mealybugs, spittlebug foam, or ordinary moth pupae — and the difference matters, because braconid cocoons are one of the best things you can find in a garden. If the white capsules are riding on the back of a fat green caterpillar, leave everything exactly where it is: tiny parasitic wasps are already destroying that pest for you. Read the guide → Swarm of Flying Insects in Yard: Termites, Ants, or Gnats? A sudden swarm of flying insects in your yard is most often flying ants, termite swarmers, mating clouds of midges or gnats, emerging ground bees, or mayflies near water. Most swarms are harmless and gone within days — but a termite swarm coming from the soil near your house means you should schedule an inspection right away, so the first job is telling termites apart from everything else. Read the guide → Tiny White Bugs Under Leaves: What They Are, What to Do Tiny white bugs on the undersides of leaves are most often whiteflies, mealybugs, woolly aphids, or spider mites. The quickest test is to disturb the plant: whiteflies scatter into the air instantly, while mealybugs and woolly aphids stay put in cottony patches. All of them respond to gentle controls — a hard spray of water and insecticidal soap — so there's no need to reach for harsh chemicals. Read the guide → Webs on Tree Branches: Tent Caterpillars or Webworms? Silky webs in your trees are most likely eastern tent caterpillars if it's spring and the web sits in a branch fork, or fall webworms if it's late summer and the web wraps the tips of branches. Both look alarming but rarely do lasting harm to a healthy tree — and whatever you do, never try to burn a nest out of a tree. Read the guide → White Fuzzy Bugs Flying Around? Meet the 'Fairy Flies' Tiny white fuzzy bugs drifting through the air are usually woolly aphids — sometimes nicknamed 'fairy flies' or 'fluff bugs' — riding the breeze between host trees. Whiteflies that billow up when you brush a plant, hackberry woolly aphids, and waxy planthopper nymphs are the other common sources. Nearly all of them are harmless to you and only a minor stress on healthy plants. Read the guide →
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