Awesome

I wonder if someone can guess what these are.  I had not the faintest idea.  Answer tomorrow - or if someone posts it in the Comments. (click to embiggify)

Addendum:  As one reader realized, these are phasmid eggs (the eggs of stick insects).  So we turn to Wikipedia:

The Phasmatodea (also known as Phasmida, Phasmatoptera or Spectra) are an order of insects whose members are variously known as stick insects, stick-bugs, walking sticks, stick animals, or bug sticks. They are also occasionally referred to as Devil's darning needles, although this name is shared by both dragonflies and crane flies. They can be generally referred to as phasmatodeans, phasmids, or ghost insects, with phasmids in the family Phylliidae called leaf insects, leaf-bugs, walking leaves, or bug leaves. The group's name is derived from the Ancient Greek φάσμα phasma, meaning an apparition or phantom, referring to their resemblance to vegetation while in fact being animals. Their natural camouflage makes them difficult for predators to detect; still, many species have one of several secondary lines of defense in the form of startle displays, spines or toxic secretions...

Phasmatodea eggs resemble seeds in shape and size and have hard shells. They have a lid-like structure called an operculum at the anterior pole, from which the nymph emerges during hatching. The eggs vary in the length of time before they hatch which varies from 13 to more than 70 days, with the average around 20 to 30 days. Some species, particularly those from temperate regions, undergo diapause, where development is delayed during the winter months...

Many species' eggs bear a fatty, knoblike capitulum that caps the operculum. This structure attracts ants because of its resemblance to the elaiosome of some plant seeds that are sought-after food sources for ant larvae, and usually contribute to ensuring seed dispersal by ants, a form of ant-plant mutualism called myrmecochory. The ants take the egg into their nest underground and can remove the capitulum to feed to their larvae without harming the phasmid embryo. There, the egg hatches and the young nymph, which initially resembles an ant (another instance of mimicry among Phasmatodea), eventually emerges from the nest and climbs the nearest tree to safety in the foliage. The eggs of stick insects have a coating of calcium oxalate which makes them survive unscathed in the digestive tract of birds. It has been suggested that birds may have a role in the dispersal of parthenogenetic stick insect species, especially to islands.

Lots of fascinating details.  While doing the research, I discovered that the image I embedded was sourced from the Levon Biss Studio, which offers limited edition prints of the top photo plus some close-up views of smaller groups of the eggs.

For images of the adults see my previous posts entitled Yellow Umbrella Stick Insect (2021) and Black Beauty Stick Insect (2012).  The latter has an extended comment by reader Liesel Weppen on the ease (and joys) of raising phasmids at home in a terrarium.  I highly recommend reading her comment if you would like to raise these yourself; I have seen offers of eggs for sale on the internet, including from various scientific supply companies.

Here's a friendly stick insect who crawled up my blue jeans to join me for a walk in the woods up at Leech Lake a couple summers ago: