Wheel Bug Egg Mass

Gardens, orchards, and woodlands, often found on tree trunks, fence posts, or wooden structures

As adults and nymphs, they are predatory, feeding on caterpillars, beetles, and other soft-bodied insects using a piercing-sucking proboscis

Eggs are laid in late autumn and overwinter before hatching in the spring. Once hatched, they undergo incomplete metamorphosis with five nymphal stages before reaching adulthood

Benefits: Highly beneficial as natural pest control in gardens. Risks: While not aggressive, they can deliver a very painful bite if handled, described as worse than a hornet sting