I noticed a few days ago, my basil plant was starting to look a bit overwatered so I moved it so it could dry out a bit. Then yesterday, I noticed some of the leaves looked like they’d been chewed. Upon closer inspection, I saw these little black balls everywhere, the best I could assume is that they were eggs, as they are in tight clusters. Below the cut, I’ve got a photo of the only bug I’ve seen on the thing, as well as a photo of the black balls.
Bug?
Eggs?
Also, if you zoom in all the way in the second photo, you can see this stuff that sort of looks like webbing near the balls, on the stalk. I don’t know if it’s related, but I thought I’d throw that out there.
Are the black balls and the bug related? What is this and what can I do to get rid of it, short of tossing it?
Edit:
Got a picture of what looks like an older version of the first picture climbing up the next door plant. Here he is:
Involved? The culprit? A harmless garden insect that I just killed for no good reason?
