ivanparr's Favorites

Pleocoma simi " Near " . Hwy 44 , Shingletown , Tehama County, California, USA
November 15, 2015
Size: 31mm
I stopped off a dirt road turn out south of shingletown during a downpour , set out blacklites and waited .I received a nice series of Pleocoma near simi males from 5:30 am to 6:35 am .Breezy /Rain and Very wet/ saturated soil. 4 lams . Another slow to fly species probably because it takes alot of precipitation to saturate the volcanic soil . Then they do the Perculation emergence , sometimes for 2 or 3 months. Cheers ! Gene St. Denis

I stopped at the Paynes creek area off of Hwy 36 in high hopes . I located a series of Pleocoma Hovorei males under lites in lite rain @ 48 degrees and 6:00am . 7 Laminae . These are not the first to fly like shastensis . They are slow to fly and it takes alot of precipitation to soak the highly absorbent volcanic soil . Then they will Fly in what we call slow " perculation emergence " over a couple months sometimes . Cheers ! Gene St. Denis

Mixed emotions about this - I briefly thought I had discovered some crazy new woodlouse (my favorite group) but turns out it something called a California Pill Millipede, the only member of the family in Western North America and apparently restricted to coastal central CA. They can roll up into a ball and look ridiculously alot like woodlice. I only got these bad photos before he rolled up to a ball and refused to unroll, grrr.

Found within a steep wooded canyon with closed canopy Bay Laurel, Madrone, Tan Bark Oak, Live Oak, Sycamore and Maple.

The forest floor was made up mainly of leaf litter and woody duff with some smaller fallen branches and exfoliated bark.

Compared to adjacent seepages and creek areas bordered by mossy talus, the hillside was free from the dense berry and poison oak bramble which is more typical of undisturbed mesic forests in the region.

The animal was found within a dark and relatively dry canyon under a large fallen log, directly within the trough of the draw.

Attempted to spring away with its tail when uncovered.

Many Ensatina were also seen, including a mated pair and several gravid females. This was the only Batrachoseps I encountered in a about an hour of searching at this locale.