# Southern Utah Field Trip



## Jmugleston (Oct 10, 2010)

We took the Entomology class down to southern Utah a couple weeks back. While we found numerous insects, I was only able to photograph a few herps. They are common ones, but I haven’t been able to do much SW herping this Summer so some are firsts for this year. Hopefully next Summer will allow for some more local photography…. Though I don’t mind all the traveling too much.


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## loxoscelesfear (Oct 11, 2010)

indeed looks like a herpetology class outing.  find any tarantulas, big pasimachus beetles, scarab beetles. tiger beetles?  looks like a fun time.


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## Jmugleston (Oct 11, 2010)

loxoscelesfear said:


> indeed looks like a herpetology class outing.  find any tarantulas, big pasimachus beetles, scarab beetles. tiger beetles?  looks like a fun time.


Tiger beetles yes. I found them while searching for tetrigids. I was looking mainly for orthopterans so I'm not sure what the students found yet.


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## Rockstarpets (Oct 11, 2010)

I've seen a really severe drop in the herps in my area this year.  Are you seeing that along the whole state, or at least along the Wasatch?  I'm wondering how much of it has to do with Tooele doing alot of poison dusting last year and how much it has to do with the late season.


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## Jmugleston (Oct 11, 2010)

In southern Utah you see a drop near homes. Areas that I used to visit as a kid are no longer the prime herping spots they used to be. Certain species seem to disappear as humans encroach more on their habitat. Horned lizards, teids, tortoises, kingsnakes, gophersnakes, racers and gilas are the most notable species that start disappearing once developments start. Once you get away from that though, the numbers seem to be similar to what they were. Though as time has gone on my ability to search them out has improved which may bias my opinion.


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## new ento (Oct 11, 2010)

Cool! Do you do any light traps with the class this time of year?


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## Terry D (Oct 11, 2010)

Joey, Interesting. Speckled kings, along with many other native herps, etc., actually seem more common near/ on the edges of development- in my field experience in nw La. Many of the wild or rural areas have been drasticly altered for pine or other tree farms and the stricter the upkeep, the less diverse they become in terms of inhabitants. When collecting afield or by road cruising through these areas, oftentimes either one doesn't find anything or is barraged by high nos of a single sp such as southern copperhead.

 Some developed areas on the other hand, so long as they're not already within previously developed areas, often have narrow, more natural buffer zones between them and adjacent development or other ""wild"" areas. Some spp, Louisiana milk snake and Lousiana pine snake included, still seem more abundant rurally or in the countryside, though. Often the areas where they're found most frequently are hillier = much less easy for people to get in there to alter.


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## Versi*JP*Color (Oct 11, 2010)

Where were you, Cedar City?
Where did you find the toad?
I never seem to find toads or snakes down south.


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## Jmugleston (Oct 11, 2010)

new ento said:


> Cool! Do you do any light traps with the class this time of year?


We did a MV lamp as well as a black light. Nothing spectacular came to them this go around.


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## Jmugleston (Oct 11, 2010)

SpyderBoy606 said:


> Where were you, Cedar City?
> Where did you find the toad?
> I never seem to find toads or snakes down south.


We were more south of Cedar. We were near St. George.


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