Southern California Invert Hunting...

[GQ.]

Hi Josh,

I haven't done much hiking in salamander territory. I find Batrachoseps sp. in the back yard and that is about the extent of my salamander finds in this state.

I have not really done much exploring in the higher elevation areas. I will make it a point to do some searching in the higher elevations this year. I don't know if B. californicum is up that high or not.

Send a message to me before you hit San Diego. I'm usually up for a hike if I have some free time.

Later,
Gilbert

[Triprion]

Josh -
I grew up in San Diego; if you are going there in search of trapdoor spiders I can give you a locality where they have always been abundant...email me for more info. Also, I have seen all of the western salamanders so if you need info...
Tim

[Noexcuse4you]

Sorry to hijack your thread.

I hiked around mission trails last week. I kept finding these holes in the ground, but when I flooded them nothing came up except for one that had a widow living inside of it. I don't know if they were abandoned tarantula holes or what. They were too small to be a gopher or mole. I also did some rock flipping. I didn't really find anything but a mole cricket, Kukulcania (I think) slings and adults.

I also hiked around Sycamore Canyon this past weekend. There was lots of reptile life. I found the first horned lizard I'd ever seen in real life! It was pretty exciting! I also came across a dead long-nosed snake laying on the trail. Poor little guy. Some biker probably ran over it.

Here's some pics...

The hole.



Widow


The horned lizard


Kukulcania slings


Kukulcania adult

[josh_r]

those burrows look to be carolina wolf spider burrows. wolf spiders tend to make a collar of grass or other debris around the hole and web it up with very tough single strands of silk woven together. tarantulas have a ver soft silky white web that almost falls apart when you grab it. i would definitely say that is a carolinensis burrow. the last spider "adult kukulcania" looks like a loxosceles actually. very good pics tho. where abouts do u live??

-josh

[Noexcuse4you]

I live in san diego.

[Brent H.]

I can't tell what the last spider is, but it's not Kukulcania or Loxosceles. The eye pattern looks familiar but I cannot put my finger on it right now... cool pics, though!

[GQ.]

I never did update this thread. I put this cocoon in a 60 dram vial with some pinholes in the lid. I placed it on a bookshelf and didn't offer any other care. I left town for a few days one week and came back to find a nice blue wasp like the one a few posts back. Cool stuff.

[sharpfang]

I have been wanting to find a cocoon in a trapdoor spider to see what emerges ever since I saw the below wasp waiting for a trapdoor to emerge.

That is what I saw in the Angeles Crest Forest Last Summer! Very Pretty, Very Cool - TY 4 Pic! - Jason

[ZergFront]

I don't know about you, but I'm finding a ton of Aneides lugubris (arboreal salamanders) this time of year. Including babies.

I thought some of the babies I found were dying but once I got them under room temperature, they took termites and earwig nymphs. The oak forest areas you have are great for finding them after a rain. Usually I find them under wood.

[John Apple]

And I still have that Thevenetti Josh...very black and blue

[josh_r]

Good John. Theveneti is one of the coolest spiders in cali as far as I'm concerned. Lets plan a trip out there to get some breeding stock!

[hexme]

I live in lakeside. I plan on lookin around mission trails soon

[asn1234]

Here are some of my finds to bring this thread back to life:

Paruroctonus Silvestrii:

Anuroctonus Pocki(I plan to be breeding these guys this year):


Typical Threat posture(she just wants a hug)

Frog I found on my window:

Alligator Lizards:

This one had some really nice reds!:

My favorite 2 Scolopendra Polymorpha I've found(I have breeding plans for this species as well):



Some kind of salamander:

Unidentified Scorpion Species(probably Pseudoroctonus Sp.)


Smaller scorpion,probably same species as above,just younger:

Dysdera crocata:

Here you can see the massive fangs of this species:

Large(5"+) blind centipede:

Unknown species of millipede:


I'm in Oceanside,where most of these were found.

[Pulk]

Cool, looks like the kinds of things I find in Encinitas.
Good luck breeding the A. pococki!
Are you sure the geophilomorph is 5"? I think the largest I've seen is half that.

[asn1234]

Cool, looks like the kinds of things I find in Encinitas.
Good luck breeding the A. pococki!
Are you sure the geophilomorph is 5"? I think the largest I've seen is half that.

Encinitas isn't too far away from.And it is definately that big,if not a little bigger.The largest I've seen by far.It looks a little different than the ones I usually find.Very strange.