Seattle Invertebrates

 Hi everyone. I'm currently on vacation in Seattle, where today I went to a nature reserve called Schmitz Preserve Park.

Schmitz Preserve Park sign

The reserve is located in the West of Seattle and is a 53 acre park around 15 blocks east of Alki Point and Beach (where I found some sandhoppers!).

I went down some stairs to see this! Definitely didn't disappoint 😁 

I was very sure that I would find a lot of invertebrates here.

When I found the first log that I could flip, I found this possibly Ambigolimax valentianus and some Porcellio scaber. But there was one that did sparked my interest

There was this one scaber that had a faint calico pattern. I've never personally seen P. scaber before because they aren't found in my country and its hobby stock, but looking at pictures of the wild types I don't think many specimens are like this one.

Pretty cool to see

I also saw this Condica illecta perching on a small rock.


After that, I decided to go further.


As I went further, it was becoming a more moist environment, probably because of a little stream of water that was flowing around. (Not pictured)


The first few pieces of bark only consisted of these Harpaphe haydeniana and some nightcrawlers.

But as I went further the diversity of species increased.




I spotted a few of these slugs, which I think the genus is Arion.

One of my favorite gastropods in the US for sure, super cute 

I found an isopod species that I've also never seen in-person before, and they were huge. Way bigger than I thought, and the largest terrestrial isopods I've ever seen.



They were Oniscus asellus, and the largest ones I found were reaching around 1.2 cm in length. Pretty impressive if you ask me 😄


In a huge piece of bark I found this little group of huge slugs. I think they are also Arion.

After sifting and searching around foliage, a quick movement caught my eye. It was a ground beetle of I assume the genus of Pterostichus.


Look at those mandibles!

I also flipped an absolutely massive piece of bark to find a gorgeous, fully red centipede. I think it's Scolopocryptops sexspinosus.

Unfortunately the image is blurry, because I only got a single picture as it was bolting and burrowing quickly.


And yeah that's basically the majority of inverts that I got a photo of.

I also saw a lot of salmonberries growing in the wild, and I find them pretty beautiful.



I wonder what they taste like 🤔 

But yeah, that's basically it. Thanks for reading, and goodbye! 👋 


Comments

  1. Invertebrate DudeJuly 29, 2024 at 8:47 PM

    Very cool! I've been there twice now, such a lovely, lush environment. 😁 I also collected some of those sand hoppers from Alki Beach, which seem to be doing well so far.

    (The berries taste quite sour BTW... 😋).

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. roachbreadAugust 12, 2024 at 5:06 AM

      This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete
    2. roachbreadAugust 12, 2024 at 5:09 AM

      Oh my, sorry for not noticing your comment after almost a month 😔
      But yeah, the place was amazing. Next time I go there I might as well pick some berries and try them out!
      Yes, I did also visit Alki Beach, and sandhoppers were everywhere under bark and fallen stuff. Glad to hear they're doing well!

      Delete

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