18-Aug-2011 South Of Mt. Adams, Washington

Site locations (click to enlarge)

On my way home from visiting friends in Oregon, I stopped at two southern Washington sites to tap ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) cones.  My first site, the remote Pineway Trailhead, was located literally across the street from the Yakima Reservation.  The drive to the trailhead offered some spectacular views of Mt. Adams, while the trail head itself offered a humorous view of cattle coming off the trail, the only "hikers" I saw.

Pineway trailhead

Luckily cones fell on both sides
of the boundary trees

The ponderosas growing near the road on the reservation had recently been nearly clearcut, while the forest on the US Forest Service side of the road remained intact.  Nevertheless, the cones were more abundant on the reservation side.  Although the reservation boundary was blanketed with "no trespassing" signs, I was able to find plenty of cones to tap on the US side of the signed trees.

Agelenid web on ponderosa
cone at Pineway trailhead

She was as surprised to see me
as I was her!

I collected 16 spiders and 2 species from 57 tapped cones, including another female from the same undescribed species of Dictyna (Dictynidae) that I'd tapped earlier in the summer from cones at Thunder Lake and Reecer Creek Road.  The other identifiable spider was a female wolf spider Pardosa mackenziana (Lycosidae).  It's not especially unusual to find lycosid juveniles and lycosid exuviae in cones, but adult lycosids are a rarity, despite their ground-dwelling habits. 

Fallen cone microhabitat
in ditch north of Husum

Site north of Husum

My second site was located in a steeply-sided roadside ditch at the intersection of Rte 141 and a side road just north of Husum.  Although I could only find 27 cones to tap, they yielded an astonishing 30 spiders and 2 species.

Closeup of Novalena sp

Novalena sp. and exuvium

Juvenile linyphiids were the most numerous (10), while the 2 female Poecilochroa montana (Gnaphosidae) won the prize for beauty.  But the spider that I got the best photos of was a juvenile Novalena sp. (Agelenidae) and its exuvium.

Mt Adams