What is this thing?

November 15, 2008 10:43 AM

What is this thing I found on my chain link fence this morning? It's near a spiderweb, but it doesn't look like what I thought spider eggs look like.
posted by jeffrygardner to Home & Garden (7 answers total)

A mold of some sort?
posted by thebrokedown at 10:53 AM on November 15, 2008 [1 favorite]

That almost definitely looks like some sort of slime mould. From the picture alone and a quick look through my fungi ID book, I'd say it might be Badhamia utricularis or Leocarpus fragilis. Don't let the fact that it's hanging off of metal rule out the possibility of it being a protist/fungus, as slime molds will "stream" up any convenient hard surface to provide better air range for their sacs of spores. It would be easier to identify if you provided a larger picture and cracked one of them open to tell us what color the insides are.

Then again, it could be some sort of insect egg. I feel asleep through most of my entomology class...
posted by ayerarcturus at 11:06 AM on November 15, 2008 [1 favorite]

Egg sacs from some kind of caterpillar.
posted by bjgeiger at 11:06 AM on November 15, 2008 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Lacewing eggs?
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 11:08 AM on November 15, 2008

Ugh, feel->fell. Time for some more tea.
posted by ayerarcturus at 11:08 AM on November 15, 2008

More specifically, a slime mold?
posted by thebrokedown at 11:08 AM on November 15, 2008 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Lacewing eggs, beneficial insects. For sale here and elsewhere.
posted by X4ster at 11:26 AM on November 15, 2008