Smokehound714
Arachnoking
- Joined
- Mar 23, 2013
- Messages
- 3,091
Went to my usual spot to search for an adult male Anuroctonus pococki, and failed to find any...
However, it was still an interesting night, activity was quite high.. I had travelled here to collect a few more aphonopelma slings, however this time, the spitting spiders were everywhere, so the slings were hiding behind mom (HUGE female, btw.), so I was unable to collect any.. No biggie..
During the night, it's very wise to search around the blooms of Eriogonum (coastal/california buckwheat), a profuse bloomer that remains in bloom pretty much year-round. At night, Ground mantids (Litaneutria sp) 'roost' amongst the plants, which is the best time to catch this very agile and alert species.
^-- Exuvia of a cicada, probably a Cactus Dodger, judging from the enormous stands of coast prickly pear, as well as cholla cacti.
^- I had posted this in the scorpion forum, but since it was a result of this hunt, I'll go ahead and repost it
Two Anuroctonus scorplings that made me do a double-take.. Im guessing they had just started to disperse from mommy, and they were viciously trying to stab each other. Either that or there are dwarf Anuroctonus now. haha (Which would totally blow my mind)
And the jackpot of the evening.. A female Olios peninsulanus! Females can be difficult to find, as they're quite secretive and once light hits them, they freeze.
Haha the highlight of the night was when two cops asked me what i was doing. Apparently i startled those people enough to call the cops.
However, it was still an interesting night, activity was quite high.. I had travelled here to collect a few more aphonopelma slings, however this time, the spitting spiders were everywhere, so the slings were hiding behind mom (HUGE female, btw.), so I was unable to collect any.. No biggie..
During the night, it's very wise to search around the blooms of Eriogonum (coastal/california buckwheat), a profuse bloomer that remains in bloom pretty much year-round. At night, Ground mantids (Litaneutria sp) 'roost' amongst the plants, which is the best time to catch this very agile and alert species.
^-- Exuvia of a cicada, probably a Cactus Dodger, judging from the enormous stands of coast prickly pear, as well as cholla cacti.
^- I had posted this in the scorpion forum, but since it was a result of this hunt, I'll go ahead and repost it
Two Anuroctonus scorplings that made me do a double-take.. Im guessing they had just started to disperse from mommy, and they were viciously trying to stab each other. Either that or there are dwarf Anuroctonus now. haha (Which would totally blow my mind)
And the jackpot of the evening.. A female Olios peninsulanus! Females can be difficult to find, as they're quite secretive and once light hits them, they freeze.
Haha the highlight of the night was when two cops asked me what i was doing. Apparently i startled those people enough to call the cops.