bug eggs on my plum tree

[mopinko]

ok gardener friends. these little bug eggs are appearing on my beleaguered plum tree. i have had lots of ladybugs on this tree, but don't recall seeing these eggs. have had a lot of butterflies this year, don't have a clue if they would lay on a tree like this. if they are something bad, i would like to smite them now. but if they are something useful, i would like to buy them a drink.
anyone? clues, even?

[Viva_La_Revolution]

1. pics of ladybug eggs

Win!

ps
this is what the larvae look like.


I got to watch this beautiful cycle of life 2 years ago when I bought a bag of ladybug to kill the aphids on my corn. I freaked out at first when I found all these ugly buggers crawling around! They did a marvelous job of wiping out the aphids. I was out weeding yesterday, and I've still got tons of ladybugs

[mopinko]

2. yeah, they scared the crap out of me the first time i saw them, too.

i am mostly confused about the fact that they are being laid on the bark. and that they are being laid on and near the circle of diatomaceous earth that i am using to keep the ants, and hence the aphids, off the tree. weird.

i sure hope that you are right.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

3. they probably laid them where the aphids were

fast food for the babies, so to speak.

[mopinko]

4. yeah, they must get that that is a dead end.

it is very effective at stopping the ants, and therefore that g.d. aphids.