

The older piles are overrun with weeds. I went searching for a nice-sized rock there.


A larva of some kind, perhaps a Rove Beetle.
I tried to photograph this blond slug, but the focus was off. I hadn't even seen the other resident until just before I hit my Delete key.

That looked to be it. A white butterfly just escaped my camera and a bee waited until I had climbed the hillock to his clump of vetch, then left the area completely. Contrary beasts they are. I gave up and headed home.
Passing the pile of raw debris, I kicked over one last stone in my path, and a big spider scrambled out of the way. And waited politely on a leaf until the camera clicked.

Thanks, buddy. Now you can go home.

Hidey-hole, with remains of dinners past. (I think the glossy pieces are from ants.)

Again, checking out the photos, I discovered another spider in the same web. A different colour, a different shape; just a hanger-on, looking for scraps from Shelob's dinners? Or venturing into dangerous territory unaware?

Hey, this was fun! Thanks, Dave, Bev and Fred for the idea!
*Update: these photos, and more, posted to Flickr group, International Rock-Flipping Day. Check out everybody's photos here.
**The large spider is an Agelenopsis, a funnel-web spider. The tiny one may be a dwarf spider.
***Christopher Taylor of Catalogue of Organisms says it definitely is a harvestman. (See comments.)
Yep, that's definitely a harvestman in the photo with the slug. You might even be able to identify which species if you can find out what's in your area - there probably wouldn't be a great many species in British Columbia.
ReplyDeleteThanks,Chris,
ReplyDeleteI spent some time on BugGuide, trying to find a similar harvestman on the west coast, with no luck so far. I had photographed a couple from my back yard, but they seemed different.
I'm glad to hear from you that I'm on the right track.
BTW, I just noticed that you had passed on the thinking blogger award to me; I am inordinately pleased. Thanks so much.
I did enjoy your hidey-hole pictures and spider identification. I've been photographing many of these recently and didn't know what to call them.
ReplyDeleteAgelenopsis - Thanks!
And thanks for steering me to Bug Guide.