The other morning, this appeared on our dew-laden lawn. Elektra said it was 'grass spiders'. I checked: 'grass spiders' are, indeed, a thing, though hitherto unknown to me. However, the lawn care people say it's more likely to be Sclerotinia homoeocarpa, or dollar spot fungus, due to the weather stressing out the grass.

'The grass is stressed?' I mocked. 'Oh, boo, hoo.' The reason for my sarcasm is familiarity with the biologists' observation that grass is quite possibly the most successful organism on Earth. As one scientist put it, what other organism has managed to inveigle humans into spending so much time and money on its welfare? Reflecting on the 20 bucks I fork out for lawn care every other week in the summer, I thought the grass was being a snowflake about a few cool nights.

Anyway, the sighting was unusual, and went away by lunchtime. Anybody out there have any thoughts on these things? Have you ever seen one where you are?

Dmitri Gheorgheni

13.08.18 Front Page

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