If You See These Growing Off Your Plants Do Not Kill Them

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My stepdad and I were admiring the chili pepper plant that we have in our backyard. I wanted to show him all the new flower buds that were getting ready to pop out. He pointed out a different thing to me.

All over the leaves were these little white egg-like things that were suspended up or down. They were sewn to the leaf with a thin strand of web. Maybe it is web. Could it be silk? I don’t know.

My very first instinct was to just start smashing them in my fingers. I continued to smash them until I reached about ten kills. That is when my brain started to realize I may be killing something that is beneficial to my plant. I immediately stopped and felt a bit of guilt. Now I have to find out what they are and hope that I didn’t mess things up.

After a few questions online and some generous comments, I finally had the answer I wanted. They are lacewings. Most likely a green lacewing because I live in Phoenix. They are good! I feel shame for my previous actions but happy to know the truth.

I have seen this bug thousands of times, I just didn’t know how it came into this world. I also didn’t know that it was so beneficial to plants. Lacewings love to eat aphids, whiteflies, thrips, and mealybugs. All of the things that we don’t want on our plants.

So again, if you see these weird little things sticking out of your leaves, leave them alone!