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Site location map. Click to enlarge. |
Returning to the search for the introduced crab spider
Ozyptila praticola (Thomisidae), I tapped fallen cones in three towns located northeast of Snohomish: Machias, Lake Stevens and Granite Falls.
Machias Cemetery
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Two Doug-fir clumps providing cones at Machias Cemetery |
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Fallen cones in Machias Cemetery |
I tapped a total of 100 fallen Douglas-fir (
Pseudotsuga menziesii) cones taken from three separate accumulations in the Machias Cemetery. In all cases, I found the cones on tree needle and twig litter, sometimes with a bit of grass or other herbaceous vegetation poking through. Juvenile harvestmen were exceedingly abundant in these cones, but spiders were harder to come by; I collected only 7, and none of them were
O. praticola. I did, however, collect a nice pair of mature
Enoplognatha thoracica (Theridiidae) and a few female
Tachygyna (Linyphiidae).
Lake Stevens City Boat Launch
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Lake Stevens cone cource |
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The fallen cone microhabitat |
Moving a few miles north I found two nice accumulations of Douglas-fir cones on needle litter in the parking area for the city's public boat ramp. I began by tapping 50 cones from beneath the trees growing along the fenceline, and knew pretty quickly that I wouldn't need to sample the other accumulation as well. These cones contained 2 female and 1 juvenile
O. praticola. Also present were
Tenuiphantes tenuis and
E. thoracica for a total of 10 spiders and 3 identifiable species.
Granite Falls
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White pine towers over neighborhood |
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Fallen cones beneath a rhodie almost done blooming |
I had initially planned on tapping some
Pinus nigra cones that I spotted beneath a lone tree in front of the car wash on the corner of Stanley St. and Alder Ave., but the area was so busy that I decided to look for a quieter spot. Just a few blocks away in a residential section of town I found my cone source: a huge western white pine (
Pinus monticola) growing in a lawn but whose fallen cones had been allowed to accumulate under a large rhododendron. I tapped 50 cones and collected 19 spiders and 7-8 identifiable species. What a rich deposit! Among the species present was
O. praticola, although only represented by juveniles. The search for the boundary of
Ozyptila praticola's local range continues!
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Female Ozyptila praticola tapped from Douglas-fir cones in Lake Stevens |
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Lake Stevens under a heavy sky. |
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