This evening, I looked at my young Jonathan apple, and noticed that the
underside of one leaf was about half covered with tiny gray eggs. The
leaf was otherwise healthy. the eggs adhered somehow to the hairs on
the leaf. There was a tiny spider hanging out with the eggs. Most of
the eggs were intact, but a few were black and ruined. The eggs were in
a single layer, densely packed together. They were nearly spherical,
and pearly gray. Each was about 1mm across. The insides of a few that
I broke were just goo - no baby bug, yet.
Do you think the spider was protecting the eggs (hers?) or eating them?
Unless I hear a good case for the eggs belonging to the spider, I plan
to remove the leaf and destroy them.
Thanks,
Ginda
[NAFEX] Eggs on Apple Leaf,
Ginda Fisher, 09/05/2002