A Guide to the Insects of the Coal Oil Point Reserve

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Funded in part by the UCSB Pearl Chase Fund

Last updated 08/15/2005
     Insects of Coal Oil Point > Guide > Other Arthropods

Arachnids and other arthropods

While this site deals mainlywith insects, a large number of non-insect arthropods can also be foundat Coal Oil Point. These are also important elements of the Reserve'secology, though we know too little about them to do them justice here.The Reserve's spider and mite fauna appears especially diverse, and weshow a few examples of these arachnids here. The dune spider Luticamaculata is rarely seen but common in the dunes in Santa Barbara andVentura counties. At Coal Oil point, this whitish spider can be seen insilk burrows around dune plants. They probably feed on larvae of dunebeetles.

Most reserve visitors also encounterbeach hoppers, which belong to a group of crustaceans known asAmphipods. These scavengers are associated with wrack piles and otherbeach debris. Species of the genus Megalorchestia are extremelyabundant in the wrack at Coal Oil Point, reaching numbers of 18,000individuals/m2. The beach hoppers, together with many other species ofinsects, are the main food source for many shorebirds.


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Araneae| Acari| Amphipoda| Diplopoda | Isopoda| Pseudoscorpiones


Arthropod Photos
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Araneae - Spiders






 

Acari - Ticks





 

Amphipoda - Beach hoppers

Megalorchestia
  
 

Diplopoda - Millepedes



 

Isopoda - Pillbugs






 

Pseudoscorpiones - Pseudoscorpions




 

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