As of: March 13, 2024, 10:00 a.m
By: Ines Alms
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They are much smaller than Easter eggs, but also more dangerous: Some eggs, like those of apple snails, have no place in the garden.
How to recognize the pests.
It may be that while walking along a body of water or on reeds or stones in your own garden pond you find strikingly colored structures: numerous pink or delicate pink eggs, which nestle on their undersurface like small, pretty pearls, have turned out to be harbingers of an invasive species , which could become increasingly widespread in local waters and wetlands.
What is behind these mysterious eggs and what dangers do they pose?
Six facts about the dangerous apple snail
The bright pink to pink eggs of the apple snail (Pomacea) cannot be overlooked.
© Pond5 Images/Imago
Pink eggs that cling to aquatic plants or pond edges are probably the clutches of the invasive apple snails (Pomacea), which are one of the genus with the largest freshwater snails in the world.
Apple snails, originally from South America, are considered voracious pests that can decimate plants and animals of the species native to Germany.
Their uncontrolled reproduction threatens the ecological balance in this country and could completely displace other species.
Since they do not stop at rice plants, for example, as happened in fields in Spain, harvests are also threatened.
Controlling the genus Pomacea is difficult and they have no natural enemies in these latitudes.
The import and distribution of apple snails of the genus Pomacea is banned throughout the EU - until now this has often happened via aquarists - apple snails are popular algae removers - and the import of aquarium plants or stones.
For example, the animals enter the environment when aquariums are emptied into ponds.
You can find even more exciting garden topics in the regular newsletter from our partner 24garten.de.
The discovery or suspicion of apple snails in fields and watercourses in Germany must be reported.
The plant protection services of the federal states are responsible for this.
The discovery of pink eggs in your home pond may seem intriguing at first, but behind the colorful facade lurks a potential threat to the local flora and fauna.
Therefore, early detection, removal and appropriate countermeasures are crucial to contain the impact of this invasive species and maintain ecological balance.
You should also look out for the following eggs:
Have you discovered eggs in your garden that you have never seen before or that look suspicious?
Beneficial insects such as ladybirds and butterflies also lay yellow, green or other colored eggs, some of which are eye-catching.
Of course you should leave these where you find them.
If you are not sure, it is better not to act at all than to act hastily.
However, intervention also makes sense for the following eggs:
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Slugs: Like tiny Styrofoam balls, when digging in beds, flower pots, under mulch or boards, you often find clutches of harmful animals such as field snails, garden slugs and Spanish slugs - accumulations of white-yellow eggs about two millimeters in size.
Boxwood moth: The tiny eggs of the boxwood moth lie on the undersides of the leaves of the boxwood and are only a few millimeters in size, pale and lens-shaped.
The best way to combat these is through pruning or the preventative use of parasitic wasps.
Tick eggs: The light to dark brown or black, shiny clutches of the tick with up to 2,000 eggs can be found especially under leaves, flower pots, wood or stones.
These are smaller than a match head.
The editor wrote this article and then used an AI language model for optimization at her own discretion. All information has been carefully checked. Find out more about our AI principles here.