field trip: interior coastal scrub of southern california

spent the late afternoon exploring a beautiful section of scrub, and it definitely did NOT disappoint!

all around the area I saw numerous burrows belonging to anuroctonus, and aphonopelma, and thanks to my experiences with my eremobates, some tunnel systems of large solifugae.

my main target was bothriocyrtum, and this area is loaded with them!



the colors in this habitat are truly beautiful. rocks were everywhere, I flipped a few, but didn't want to damage the habitat, so I kept my focus on the trapdoors.



this is one of the largest bothriocyrtum I've ever seen, beautiful!



general area she came from. this places requires you to pay close attention to where you put your hands. poodle bush and thistles were everywhere.



unreal geology! some portions made me do a double-take. I can't believe how colorful the soil itself was!

maybe this will motivate people to join me on a field exploration.

I'm going to return here to UV light some scorpions

Hey, niteowl. Nice pics, and beautiful scrubland! That Trappie was a very nice find!

man that is one huge trap door. I didn't realize they got that huge. It looks like it could take a small rodent.

Yeah she's big, haha. She took very well to captivity. Fortunately, for me, our soil here is heavy clay, which this species really likes.

I poked a little tunnel into the substrate, and she started work on it the same night. She's already almost finished, just has to web up the interior and make her door. Actually, she's probably already making it now.

I'm going to return to this spot tomorrow, possibly. especially if someone can get a ride.

I spent another couple of hours in the scrub,

My main goal was substrate collection, the eroded sediment deposits had some unreal colors, and upon adding water, contains clay as well. Very beautiful soil.

White sage is one of the most striking plants in the world, IMO. The beautiful silvery leaves really caught my eye..



I used far more scrutiny this time, and actively hunted out Aphonopelma burrows. Using a stick and a bit of water, I ousted a beautiful youngster.

Unsure of sex, but I'm hoping it's a female, and not a male. Guess I'll have to wait for a molt to tell.. Please collect tarantulas responsibly, Aphonopelma take a loooong time to grow.





I'm not sure of the species. From what i've read, this COULD be reversum, but unlike other spiders, I cannot be certain without expert advice. I remember reading that reversum is found in the OC.

My camera did not do him/her justice, it's got awesome colors. I'm using substrate from her general habitat, very stable and makes my substrate mix look like crud, haha.

hundreds of Uta stansburiana elegans under every small stone in the area.. They would keep running under my feet after being uncovered..



Beautiful lizards!



Man, this is a BIG hole! Definitely a mature female. The hole is nearly 5 inches across! Didn't want to bother her.

Your aphonopelma is not reversum. It is more likely going to be eutylenum or something similar. Reversum is a giant jet black thing found in the higher elevations there. Get up around 4,000 feet in elevation east of Diego and search in pockets of oak forest. You'll find reversum there. They are very worth the effort Nice pictures and I love that you added "collect aphonopelma responsibly". I have seen too many spots get picked completely clean of spiders

Thank you for the correction.

I'm guessing this is the problematic 'eutylenum-type', then.

4,000 feet, eh? Hmmm...

I wish people would collect youngsters instead of big old females..

Took some better pics just now:







I'm hoping to run into some S. Polymorpha, have a good feeling they're present here.

yeah, the "eutylenum type" issue... it is no where near as bad as the chalcodes complex thing though. Yeah 4,000 ft. granite outcrops with patches of oak forest. flip rocks and you'll find them. Or look for burrows along road cuts and whatnot. I could give you a few localities, but not publicly. As for polymorpha, you shoudn't have too much trouble finding them. I have found them from these general areas and they can get to be a pretty descent size from here.... Not quite as large as the Arizona animals, but close. I can tell you where to find a really pretty blonde species with rose pink hairs all over it as well... Or a little dwarf species... Or another medium sized jet black species... Or a blonde species that is very stalky and very very fuzzy and very closely resembles Aphonopelma behlei... a few other things as well... You seem like a very responsible inverter, so I don't mind sharing some info.

josh_r said:

yeah, the "eutylenum type" issue... it is no where near as bad as the chalcodes complex thing though. Yeah 4,000 ft. granite outcrops with patches of oak forest. flip rocks and you'll find them. Or look for burrows along road cuts and whatnot. I could give you a few localities, but not publicly. As for polymorpha, you shoudn't have too much trouble finding them. I have found them from these general areas and they can get to be a pretty descent size from here.... Not quite as large as the Arizona animals, but close. I can tell you where to find a really pretty blonde species with rose pink hairs all over it as well... Or a little dwarf species... Or another medium sized jet black species... Or a blonde species that is very stalky and very very fuzzy and very closely resembles Aphonopelma behlei... a few other things as well... You seem like a very responsible inverter, so I don't mind sharing some info.

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Thank you.

I did some more reading, and I have a feeling my Aphono might actually be Aphonopelma phanum. I'm unsure if new data rendered that obsolete, or not.

Smokehound714 said:

Thank you.

I did some more reading, and I have a feeling my Aphono might actually be Aphonopelma phanum. I'm unsure if new data rendered that obsolete, or not.

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it could be phanum. That is the problem with aphonopelma..... you just never know sometimes... I can send you in the direction of aphonopelma joshua, mojave, and sp. hualapai as well.