I found this inside a bird box. It's very fibrous and very strong. The photos aren't great, but there are egg like casings and as you can see the box lid has been excavated somewhat and only shows a bit of the egg shells. Any ideas what they belong to?
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I am not sure I understand the question. This looks like fossilzed bird poop and shells. Are you asking from what bird?
This was on the lid of the box and is definitely some sort of insect due to the number of egg sacks. So what is the insect that laid these eggs or what caused this?
That is the remains of the bee moth caterpillar. We have had them in one of our bird boxes which was being used by tree bumble bees. Unfortunately the bee moth is a predator and lays its eggs in the nest and the resulting caterpillars feed on bee and wasp nest material, honeycomb, stored food and larval waste. The cocoons spun by the caterpillars are dense and quite tough to penetrate, are approx 50mm long and are often spun in large numbers side by side.
OK, I get it now. I am a little thick sometimes, I guess.
I looked at the nest on a bigger screen and it looks like a praying mantis nest to me.
If that is what it is, you are very lucky!!! These are so good for the environment as they eat a lot of bugs that are bad for gardens.
I remember when I was a kid (about a million years ago) there was a fake news story that you could be fined if you harmed one. While I would never harm one, I did stay away from them just in case--as to me they look like they could easily break.
Thanks for clarifying! I hope this is what you have!
Hi there Guess I've come to the wrong site. I did search "insect eggs uk" and automatically thought this was a UK site. My mistake. The praying mantis post kind of gave it away as we don't have any wild mantis in Britain (shame) However I will let you know when I find out what this is. Thanks anyway.
We have members worldwide but many of our regulars are from the U.S.
Good luck with your search. Do let us know what you find out.
Aww! I feel bad. Please let me know what you learn. Is there an equivalent to a home extension group or agriculture college you could take this to?
Thanks. I will eventually find out what this is. The actual egg casing material is very unusual, very fibrous, very very tough. I can't tear it. I can't even start to work out what it's made of if it's acquired like wasp nests. It's like one of those wonder materials like spider web. I will try and separate a single egg casing and photograph it for you.
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Hi I've made some more photos but I can't seem to find how to attach them without setting up a brand new post. Any ideas? Hold fast now that I've logged in it's letting me upload. I cut through a bit with some scissors which clearly shows the cells. Of course this could be fungi as one shot, a single pod, looks wheat like. The pen top gives some idea of size
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