There were several dozen of these spider nests in the dry grass spread over an area of probably 10 meter squared.
Spider body from cephalothorax through abdomen about 2cm long, and abdomen about 9-10mm wide.
Learned something new! Chrysalis
Empire cave.
Size of a false widow.
An Orbweaver spider with brightly colored swirling markings on its abdomen. It constructed a vertical web inside a red bucket in a grassy meadow near cattle trough. It looks like it caught a winged insect. Very well camouflaged on it's "trashline-of-debris" web.
Update 4/5/22:
"M. spinipes is one of the very few semi-colonial spiders in the US. Each individual builds its own orb web with a retreat made of leaves and silk suspended inside a surrounding tangle web. A line connects the retreat to the center of the orb while the tangle webs of the different spiders are interconnected."
Metepeira spinipes is a member of Typical Orbweavers, Subfamily Araneinae
Great local observation of this species: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/3976674. Thanks @rjadams55!
https://bugguide.net/index.php?q=search&keys=Metepeira+spinipes
Update 4/6/22 07:53
Western Spotted Orbweaver (Neoscona oaxacensis) a.k.a Zig-zag Spider, or Araña Manchada de Jardín is a species of spider in the family Araneidae. It is distributed in the Americas, from Kansas and California south to Venezuela and Peru, including the Galápagos Islands.
With a male.
The Mission Cactus in not native to the region, but was brought to Monterey County by Spanish missionaries and settlers. Both the fruit and pads (nopales) are edible. As part of the former Soberanes Ranch, these cactus are widespread in the canyon's dryer south-facing slope.
This extremely large male fishfly was identified to species based on the structure of its reproductive organs, clearly visible in photo 2.
Information used to identify this individual was found in Liu and Winterton's (2016) review of the North American species.
https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0148319
The leaves of this shrub were narrow and very sticky.
Common, with a Red-breasted? Two Red-breasted? Thanks for helping me sort this out.
Based on the shape of the shell, I believe this is M. nasuata rather than M. secta, but I am certainlly open to correction. Numerous empty clamshells were found on a small patch of rocky mudflat inside Moss Landing Harbor. @invertzoo What do you think?
Big Thanks to @gbentall for her ID help!
Yawning, as the storm was slowly approaching...
This immature mouse was either eating the meat or just pulling the fur off of a dead California Vole (Microtus californicus). It was particularly small with a short indistinctly bicolored tail. Based on its coloration and location, I believe this may be a California Deermouse (P. californicus), a species I have seen in the area before, but any insights or suggestions regarding its ID would be greatly appreciated.
@finatic , @euproserpinus Is this a species either of you are fairly familiar with? Thanks!
This adult male tarantula was found along the side of I-180 just inside New Mexico and within the Gila Natl. Forest.
Species-level identification based on appearance, location and information contained in the tarantula revision by Hamilton et al. (2016).
Without it being more in bloom I'm having a bit of trouble ID'ing this one. I remember that the spiral pattern of its flowers is distinctive. @gbentall , a bit of help? :-)
Short video: https://youtu.be/OCzWu8Guuk0
Living in the corner of a concrete wall.
Found on the same wall: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/88193328
Found on a nearby building: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/90086120
Found in the same area as https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/89745780
Black Mustard is an extremely common plant in disturbed fields, lots, and along roadsides in much on northern San Benito Co.
Lockwood Valley area, Ventura County, California
Fell onto my wrist as I was photographing serviceberry leaves. Length estimated about 3 mm. Salticinae is iNat suggestion.
On Amelanchier near Red Wash Creek, Bodie Hills, Lyon County, Nevada, elev. 5800 ft.
Mono County phacelia, Phacelia monoensis, Nevada, White Mountains, Pinchot Creek - Columbus Salt Marsh drainage, elevation 2626 m (8615 ft).
This rare annual species is a study in paradoxes. In a genus known for its showy purple flowers, Mono County phacelia belongs to a small group of yellow-flowered species adapted mostly to alkaline clay soils.
This species is found only along and near both sides of the California-Nevada boundary in the southwestern Great Basin, and is limited to isolated patches of shrink-swell clay soils derived from andesitic volcanic deposits at middle elevations in the mountains.
But paradoxically, most populations are found where these deposits have been bisected and disturbed by mining roads and other dirt tracks. Plants have been found in low densities on undisturbed clay deposits, but populations are generally densest on clay road banks that experience infrequent re-disturbance. It's even possible that seeds are dispersed between clay deposits by riding on muddy vehicle tires.
But even so, the plants do not spread outside their preferred set of soil patches, and remain rare and vulnerable to more intensive or frequent disturbance, including road maintenance and mining exploration and development activities.
Uploaded from my Flickr site: https://www.flickr.com/photos/127605180@N04/
Flock of 15, eating Western Sycamore seed pods and buds.
This individual was found beneath a rocky ledge in the tidepools soon after the water receded.
I think. Found under a rock. @rjadams55 and @kschnei any ideas?
Several of these small sunflowers were growing along the exposed, sandy trails at Fort Ord. They were one of the few flowers still in bloom.
These were identified to species by their pale margined phyllaries and long rows of hairs on the stems.
Hemimycena? Teeny tiny size; growing on wood debris; very widely spaced gills
Wolf spider from Chimineas Ranch, San Luis Obispo County, California
Growing from the base of a dying conifer. There is also a photo of a small piece removed from the back of the fungus to show the structure of the underside.
Subspecies M. r. robustus. The females of this shaggy-haired, normally nocturnal wallaroo are distinctly smaller and sandier colored than the males. This lone individual was seen among the boulders around Granite Gorge.
or Trombiculidae? These black spiders were abundant along alkali lakeshore, but this one stood out from the others with brilliant red parasitic mites.
Black spider with a shiny head, legs, and thorax with a fuzzy abdomen. When I zoomed in on the second image, I was able to see tiny hairs on the ends of the legs, but I wouldn't call them 'hairy legs'. As far as Oregon spiders go, he was fairly big, but you can see his scale if you compare him to the douglas fir needles he is walking on. I found him in a heavily wooded 20+ year old reprod patch.