Whose eggs please?

[Hedgehoggy]

Please tell me they’re NOT tick eggs!

I moved the clutch of eggs onto the leaf to photograph. They could easily have been mistaken for a clump of sweetcorn! (I don’t have a good macro on my camera so these are the closest I could focus on.)

I found them underneath one of my hedgehog boxes in the garden the other day. The eggs were perfectly protected from all elements -- they had been deposited in one of the ‘cells’ of some honeycomb-style rubber matting, which in turn was resting on top of a layer of bubblewrap (I place my hogboxes on these layers to prevent rising damp).

ID would be very much appreciated:

[Wild-Woman]

Possibly slugs or snails if it was under something.

[Hedgehoggy]

Thanks W-W, that’s a relief! I’ve only ever come across white/clear slug and snail eggs, so this deep yellow colouring really threw me. Just googled some images and indeed they can be a deep yellow colour too.

(p.s. during the google search, I just learnt that snail eggs are harvested as caviar in France, and that Harrods are the only outlet to import and sell this product here in the UK.... hmmm, now there’s a thought, wonder if Harrods might be interested in buying my snail eggs if I put them in a pretty tin! )

[JRsbugs]

The could also be earwig eggs, the colour and elongated shape fit well. I have a pic of a female I found under a pot guarding here eggs but if you google you will find some pics. Of course I left her to do her job! The female stays with her eggs and young until they can fend for themselves, that is admirable!

Janet

[Hedgehoggy]

Janet, thank you, I never even considered earwig, but you’re right, they very well could be I didn’t notice 'Mum' with them, but that’s not to say she didn’t hide away when I lifted the hogbox to clean it out. It wasn’t until I went to replace the hogbox back onto the rubber matting that I then noticed the eggs.

I didn’t put the eggs back where I found them – just in case they were ticks - I placed them under some leaf litter away from my hogs, so if they are earwig eggs I do hope Mum managed to find them again!

Would love to see your photo

[couldn't get an ID on here that same day as my PC was out of use for a few days]

[JRsbugs]

Here she is! I hope mum earwig found them too, was it far away you put them? They do look like earwig eggs to me. She will keep the eggs in good condition, eating off any fungus which might grow on them.

[Hedgehoggy]

What a fabulous photo They do look identical to the ones I found. I moved them just a few feet away from my hogbox (while waiting to find out what they were), so hopefully mum managed to locate them.

At least in future I'll now know they're not nothing to worry about!