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| Site location |
The triangle of forest that lies between Route 110 in Clinton and the reservoir's North Dike was my destination this day. Site A was located on the hillside just opposite the gate. The stand I chose was almost pure eastern white pine (
Pinus strobus) in composition, but there were oaks (
Quercus sp.) and maples (
Acer sp.) nearby, as the composition of the understory reflected.
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| Site A |
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| Site A cones |
Tapping 55 cones at Site A, I collected 12 spiders from at least 4 species. The needle litter produced 6 spiders, mostly juveniles, but adults from 2 microspider species were present.
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| Site B, arborvitae trunk in foreground |
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Spider incorporating a Site B
cone into its web |
Site B was located on the inland (downstream) slope of the dike. The forest here was comprised of eastern white pines growing among an old arborvitae (
Thuja occidentalis) plantation. Unlike Site A, Site B's understory was quite sparse, comprised of blueberry (
Vaccinium sp.), ferns and pine and oak seedlings.
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A trail tunnel through dense
arborvitae near Site B |
I tapped 50 pine cones at Site B and collected 13 spiders, all juveniles but for one female
Phrurotimpus borealis (Phrurolithidae). A load of needle litter yielded 14 spiders, again all juveniles except for 2 linyphiid females TBD.
About a month after I took my samples, the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority
removed close to 4,000 trees from the North Dike as part of a safety and maintenance program. Happily, according to news reports, the stands that I had sampled were probably left intact.
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| American coppers (Lycaena phlaeas) were plentiful on the grassy top of the North Dike |
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