Strange Things Growing On My Plant! Help!!!

Hello all,

I have these strange string things growing on my plant. I've been looking online for something like these, but I can't find anything. I also wasn't sure if these are eggs or what?? They have a thin clear hair with a light green ball on the end. I took the best pictures I could. Anyone know what this is???

here ya go.....
Green Lacewings

Green lacewings are appearing now that aphids and other small soft-bodied insects have been in the landscape for a while. The common green lacewing occurs throughout North America. The light green adult (Image by Steve Bambara) has long, slender antennae, golden eyes, and large, veined, gauze-like wings that are 1/2 to 1/3 inch in length. It is a slow-flying, nocturnal insect that feeds on nectar and pollen, and it emits a foul-smelling fluid from special glands, if captured. It sometimes appears at porch lights. The female lacewing usually lays eggs in groups on leaves. Each egg is held above the leaf surface on a slender stalk (Image from Cotton Insect Corner web site; http://cottoninsectcorner.org). A female lacewing can lay up to 300 eggs over a period of 3 to 4 weeks in a greenhouse, but individuals rarely survive that long in the field. Doodlebug-like larvae (Image from Cotton Insect Corner web site; http://cottoninsectcorner.org) and adults consume soft-bodied insects such as aphids

here is a link to the site i found that...the images seem to only load on there.....http://ipm.ncsu.edu/current_ipm/07PestNews/07News6/pestnews.html

So, are these harmful to my plants, since they eat aphids and other small soft-bodied insects? How should I get rid of them even if they aren't harmful? Just use a garlic and soap mix? Oh, and thanks for the help and really quick reply djruiner.

Tommy Corcoran said:

So, are these harmful to my plants, since they eat aphids and other small soft-bodied insects? How should I get rid of them even if they aren't harmful? Just use a garlic and soap mix? Oh, and thanks for the help and really quick reply djruiner.

Click to expand...

the only way i think they can be harmful is if your growing males to breed as they eat pollen.but from what im reading they are just as good as lady bugs to have near plants.they seem to take care of many pest that a garden can have...this is a little thing i found on them also....
Green Lacewing Larvae are most effective in humid areas including greenhouses and interior gardens. They are considered a very good natural control of a number of insects, including:

Aphids
Spider mites and Red mites
Thrips, whiteflies, long-tailed mealybugs
Eggs of leafhoppers, moths and leafminers
Small caterpillars, beetle larvae and tobacco budworms

i would think as long as you dont have a large number of them then you should be good.i think if you have a lot of them near your plants and they have no other bugs to feed on..then they may start feeding on your plants.if they start to get out of control a few pest strips should take care of them

finding a lot of info on these little critters...turns out people sell them just for people to put in their gardens...might be something i use one day if needed...but *knock on wood* ive never had a bug issue..here is a link to a site that pretty much covers everything on them...and how to buy them...http://www.thebeneficialinsectco.com/green-lacewing-larvae.htm

Thank you so much for your help. I feel a lot better about the situation now. I've never had bugs before either and was getting worried. Fortunately it's only on one plant, but there seems to be a lot of them on that one plant though. So, I probably will have to wash the leaves off. They're all over the stems too.

Tommy Corcoran said:

Thank you so much for your help. I feel a lot better about the situation now. I've never had bugs before either and was getting worried. Fortunately it's only on one plant, but there seems to be a lot of them on that one plant though. So, I probably will have to wash the leaves off. They're all over the stems too.

Click to expand...

no problem at all...i try to help when i can.i wouldn't too much about them for now.and not sure washing them off will work.if they can handle outside conditions of rain and wind...washing them off probably wont work.would have more luck just picking them off by hand then drenching your plant

Thanks again for the tip. I was going to try a lukewarm rag with a little bit of soap. But, I will pull them off first.