10-Oct-2013 McKenzie Conservation Area, Washington

Location of Spokane Co., Wash.
collecting sites. Click to enlarge

Bordering Newman Lake in the foothills of Mt. Spokane lies McKenzie Conservation Area, a 421-acre parcel of forest, meadows and wetlands.  After a fair tromp through soggy cedar and fir woods Rod and I at last came upon some ponderosa pines (Pinus ponderosa) near the lake.  I would ultimately sample three separate cone accumulations there.

Newman Lake

Site 1. Knoll

First up was a grove of pines on a knoll overlooking a service building and small demonstration garden next to the lake.  Fifty cones produced several Phrurotimpus certus (Corinnidae) and a few juvenile gnaphosids, while a bag of litter turned up one juvenile salticid.

Site 2. Trailside (Site 3 in distance)

Site 2 cones, exposed on rocky soil

My second sampling site was a trailside accumulation of cones at the base of the knoll.  There was no litter to speak of here, just a scattering of a few needles, but 50 cones produced 12 spiders and 3 species including a rare Clubiona mutata (Clubionidae).

Site 3 cones, some nestled deeply in litter

Site 3. Lone pine

My third site was a lone pine in the demonstration garden between the service building and the lake.  It took a bit of hunting to find 50 cones, but the needle litter was deep and plentiful.  The cones produced 8 spiders, one of which was a Meioneta danielbelangeri (Linyphiidae).  The litter here produced 6 spiders and 3 species, including several more M. danielbelangeri and another specimen of the rare C. mutata that I'd found in the trailside cones.

Rod and I were the only humanoids within sight the whole day.  But there were plenty of other kinds of life around, much of it colorful if a bit sleepy in the autumn air.

Green shield bug with pink accents

A golden-winged Mesembrina sp. fly

Adalia frigida ladybird

Polistes dominula wasps

Melanoplus sp. grasshopper

Be sure to check out Rod's narrative and album, too!

9-Oct-2013 Little Spokane Natural Area & Haynes Estate Part 2, Washington

Location of Spokane Co., Wash. collecting sites. Click to enlarge

This day's first destination was the lovely wooded Painted Rocks Trail running parallel to the Little Spokane River just a few miles downstream and west of Haynes Estate where we got rained out the previous evening.

Painted Rocks

The trail starts at the Indian Painted Rocks, which the Spokane Historic Preservation Office describes: "Thought to be around 250 years old, the Indian Painted Rocks are incredibly well preserved pictographs.  The paintings are made of pulverized red rock that was mixed with fish or animal oil.  While the meaning of the Rock Paintings remains unclear, they are a physical reminder of the Spokane people's occupancy and use of the Inland Northwest long before the arrival of non-indigenous people to the area."

Cones at meadow edge

Late blooming meadow flower among cones

The trail gave me access to ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) cones and litter both at the river meadow edge as well as further upland.  But while the cones were numerous, the spiders weren't: just 2 juveniles from 50 cones an skunked again by the meadow edge litter.

Upland site

Green shield bug in cone

The upland cones were no more productive, again producing just 2 juveniles.  However I did collect two specimens of an undescribed Neon (Salticidae) jumping spider from the upland litter.  At both sites, shield bugs were almost as numerous as spiders in the cones.

Bassaniana utahensis under bark scale

While Rod sampled Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) foliage on the hike back to the car, I amused myself by looking under ponderosa pine bark scales and found numerous Bassaniana utahensis (Thomisidae) crab spiders.

With the day being sunny and dry, we decided to head back upstream to Haynes Estate Conservation Area and complete the previous day's rained out sample.  A bag of needle litter collected from the previous day's cone site produced only two spiders, but one appeared to be the same undescribed species of Neon that I found in the upland litter that same morning.

Cones and litter at 2nd Haynes site

Moving on to another grove perched high above the Little Spokane River, I collected 30 spiders from 50 cones.  Most were juvenile Gnaphosa sp. (Gnaphosidae), but I also got a few juvenile Bassaniana utahensis, the same species I found under the pine bark scales earlier in the day.  A bag of litter produced 5 spiders, two of which were juvenile gnaphosids.

You can read Rod's take on the day here and view his albums from the Painted Rocks Trail and Haynes Estate Conservation Area.

Rod sifting cottonwood litter at Haynes Estate Conservation Area

8-Oct-2013 Bear Lake & Haynes Estate Part 1, Washington

Upland site at Bear Lake

I dress for the field with functionality in mind and no thought whatsoever to presentability, so admittedly I tend to look ragged.  I'm not going to replace good field pants just because they're faded and patched, for example.  So when we stopped at a McDonalds for breakfast, I was surprised when a man asked me if I was dressed for field work rather than just silently wondering whether I was perhaps low on cash.  How rare that recognition, and wonderful!

As it turned out, we happened to be sitting amongst a group of seniors who like to share morning coffee there.  They took quite an interest in our doings, and relayed some interesting travel stories of their own.  It was a warm and friendly start to the day.

Lots of cones & litter at upland site

My consolation prize

Our first stop of the day was Bear Lake Regional Park located about 15 miles north of Spokane.  With the sky looking ominous, I decided to sample cones and litter from the knoll located immediately behind a covered picnic shelter.  I had no trouble finding 50 cones and a bag of needle litter, but not much luck finding spiders therein.  Only three specimens from the cones, and one moth.  And the litter?  Skunked yet again!

View from the "litter sifting shed" to
riparian pines located behind yellow-
leaved aspens across lake.

Riparian grove

But from the picnic shelter I spied with my little eye some riparian ponderosas across the lake.  Although cold rain was by then spitting in fits and starts, I didn't want to miss the opportunity to sample there after the exciting riparian sample I'd collected the day before at McLellan Conservation Area.

Tegenaria agrestis

Hail!

Fifty cones from the riparian grove produced 12 spiders and 4 species, including this Tegenaria agrestis (Agelenidae), better known as the hobo spider.  Litter produced 9 spiders and 4 species, including a possibly undescribed Drassyllus (Gnaphosidae).  And once again I found Meioneta bucklei (Linyphiidae) in both the riparian cones and litter.

While Rod finished sifting his final load of deciduous litter in the picnic shelter, I watched hail mix with rain on the windshield as drenched and disappointed fishers rushed their boats to shore.

With daylight remaining and Haynes Estate Conservation Area between us and town, we decided there was nothing to lose by chancing the weather.  After a few U-turns resulting from that hilarious combination of new road configurations and old maps, we arrived just as the heavens opened (again).  I was determined to get my 50-cone sample since there was a ponderosa grove right there by the parking lot, so I hopped to it.  The result was 8 juvenile spiders from two genera.  Was it worth me and my net getting soggy?  Well, a sample is a sample!  But also, enough is enough.  Deciding to return to finish sampling at a drier time, we retreated to a nice little teriyaki place for some warm food and well-earned rest.

Check out Rod's narrative of the day here and view his albums here (Bear Lake) and here (Haynes).

7-Oct-2013 McLellan Conservation Area, Washington

Location of sampling sites in Spokane
Co., Wash. Click to enlarge.

The ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) forests of Spokane County, Washington would be our sampling home for the next 5 days.  First stop, McLellan Conservation Area.  As Rod described it, "410 acres at the tip of a north-jutting peninsula surrounded by Spokane River waters impounded by Nine Mile Dam".

Cones & needle litter in riparian veg.

We found two forest zones along the trail from the parking lot to the river, riparian and upland.  I was eager to sample the cones laying in the riparian zone since this was a configuration I'd had little access to previously. 

Spot the spider collector?

I'd just started tapping cones when the skies opened and sent me running into the rain shadow of a big tree.  Rod, who had been sampling the riparian vegetation, "sheltered in place".

Rain drops on spider silk

And then the sun came out!  Not only were we treated to a lovely rainbow over the river, but the lingering rain drops helped me spot tiny spider webs between cone scales.  Fifty tapped cones produced 31 spiders and 6 identifiable species, while the bag o' needle litter produced 17 spiders and 4 identifiable species.  Quite a haul!  Meioneta bucklei and M. simplex (Linyphiidae) were present in both cones and litter. 

Upland site

Moving on to the upland site, which was comprised of 100% ponderosa pines and blanketed with sumptuously thick needle litter, I collected 6 spiders and 3 species from 50 cones, but got skunked again by the litter.

"All's well that ends well"

6-Oct-2013 Bear Creek & Swakane Canyon, Washington

Deer track next to chamomile on road

While Rod packed up his tent, I had time to admire the play of early morning light on the dewy vegetation as well as look for signs of wildlife.  Perhaps this track belonged to the mule deer whose antler I'd found the day before.

Location of Bear Mtn & Bear Ck sites

After a morning snack of Fritos and bean dip, we headed down the southwest side of Bear Mountain to Bear Creek.  Our sampling site offered a grassy field and riparian vegetation for Rod, and small clumps of ponderosas for me.

Nexus of grassland, riparian veg &
ponderosa pines near Bear Creek

Alas, despite slogging though wet grass and hopping rose-guarded creeks, I only found 26 cones to tap.  The result was only two juvenile spiders, although one was an Ebo sp. (Thomisidae).  Only a handful of adult Ebo have been collected from any microhabitat in Washington.  As for the litter, which was bone dry despite the general dewiness of the area, I got skunked (see Def. 5)!

Swakane Canyon

Onward to Swakane Canyon, a favorite spot for butterfly and, as we would soon learn, firearms enthusiasts.  And now spider collectors as well.  What a gorgeous place!

Our collecting area was about 2.5 miles up the canyon from its mouth on the Columbia River.  Here the flat, grass-covered canyon bottom gave way to a pocket of wetlands.  To my delight, ponderosa pine groves were growing on both the canyon bottom and the canyon's south-facing slope, with a few lone trees at the foot of the north-facing slope.  Lots of possibilities!

The unwelcoming committee

With a rattlesnake warning me away from the trees I'd spotted at the base of the canyon's north-facing slope, I turned my attention to three sites on the opposite side of the canyon and sampled 50 cones and a bag of litter from each.

The best and only needle litter I found

Well, scratch that.  My plan had been to sample litter at each site.  But only one site had any litter to speak of, and even so it was thin enough to read the New York Times through.  Rod speculates that the wildfire that swept through the lower canyon in 2010 may have burned the litter.  Perhaps, but that can't be the entire story since there were fire scars on the trees under which I collected my litter sample.  It's a puzzler.

Callobius sp. as found in fallen cone

In any case, these cones had spiders!  From 150 cones total I collected 8 species and 67 individuals including 34 juvenile Steatoda sp. (Theridiidae), three Euryopis formosa and a female of the infrequently found crab spider Xysticus gulosus (Thomisidae).  Even that threadbare needle litter produced two juvenile spiders.

Read Rod's Swakane Canyon narrative here and view his album here.

Next stop, Spokane County!

The view from under a ponderosa pine at the foot of the south-facing slope looking across the floor of Swakane Canyon towards the canyon's north-facing slope

5-Oct-2013 Bear Mountain, Washington

By the time mid-2013 rolled around, I was itching to sample more ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) cones and spiders.  This was due to a move a few years prior to Massachusetts, a state covered in beautiful eastern white pine (P. strobus), but 1,500 miles from the nearest ponderosa.

Rod enthusiastically agreed to my suggestion that we make a joint week-long collecting trip in Washington since he'd recently had trouble lining up reliable field volunteers.  We settled on early October in eastern Washington, hoping to escape the autumn rains of western Washington while at the same time visiting a part of the state that Rod had had relatively little opportunity to collect in.  And of course, there'd be ponderosa pines for me.  Rod did the yeoman's work of researching the potential collecting sites.

Morning view from my room at Mom's Montlake Motel in Chelan, WA.

Greeting me on the morning of our first collecting day was a covey of California quail backlit by sunshine on ponderosa-dotted hills.  And I hadn't even left the hotel yet!  Along the road to our first collecting site on the summit of Bear Mountain I also passed a small herd of mule deer.  It all seemed to bode well for a fine day ahead.

View of Lake Chelan from Bear Mtn

Ponderosa cones before sampling

The summit of Bear Mountain included glorious views of Lake Chelan, a microwave tower, and ... cones!  Lots of ponderosa cones!  Tapping 50 cones and a bag (~9 L) of associated litter from each of two sites, I collected six species total, including my old "pine cone spider" friend Euryopis formosa (Theridiidae).  Interestingly, it was the only species that I found (on that day) in both the fallen cone and needle litter microhabitats.

For Rod's take on the day, check out his narrative and photo album.

Are Pine Cone Spiders Just Litter Spiders?

Many of the spider species I've found in fallen pine cones have also been found in forest litter*.  This raises the question, do spiders randomly wander into fallen cones because cones are simply a constituent of the litter, or do spiders gravitate to cones because cones are a separate microhabitat that provides something that litter doesn't?

*Forest litter consists of tree needles/leaves and other plant debris (including cones) that accumulates on the forest floor.

I began pursuing this question in 2012 by sampling eastern white pine (Pinus strobus) cones and associated litter in Massachusetts.  I'll blog about that soon, but since I'm presenting my past spider collecting trips in reverse chronological order, I'm first going to recount a 7-day collecting trip that Rod Crawford and I took in Washington's Chelan and Spokane counties in October, 2013.  During The Great Spokane County Expedition, as Rod playfully dubbed it, I was able to compare the spider catch from fallen ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) cones and associated pine forest litter.

Below are maps showing the locations of our sampling sites.  Map 1 shows the relative location of the Chelan Co. (map-center) and Spokane Co. sites (map-right) within Washington state.  Map 2 zooms in on the Chelan County sites.  Map 3 zooms in on the Spokane County sites.  Maps were made with GPSVisualizer.

Map 1. Location of 2013 Pinus ponderosa fallen cone and litter sampling sites in Washington

Map 2. Location of sampling sites in Chelan Co.

Map 3. Location of sampling sites in Spokane Co.

Stay tuned for my first field report from this 7-day excursion: Bear Mountain, Chelan County, Washington.