I saw these eggs on the collard greens last week and they were there again this week so I took a picture. I Googled "black and white insect eggs" and it came right up that they were Harlequin bug eggs which are a kind of stink bug. Seriously, what did we do before the internet, folks? There were Harlequin bugs on the plant, too but I didn't know what they were either and it seemed like the eggs were more distinctive so I took their picture. Apparently, collard greens are a favorite of theirs. But we use the collard greens for food for the White butterflies - Great Southern Whites right now. The greens are looking pretty bad but I figure that has more to do with the heat of Florida in July than the bugs, but maybe it's both. And it's always good to know what other bugs live on your host plants in case they can be a threat to the caterpillar. Like I had to explain to my trainee today that when you grow milkweed you get aphids and milkweed bugs and that's just how it goes. Anyway, here's those eggs which I think look pretty cool but turn into a bug that sucks the juices from your plants. Maybe not so cool, after all.
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