Viva Terlingua!!!(Pics)

[dunawayj]

Well the long awaited trip to Terlingua and Big bend finally has come and gone. Gotta tell you it was way more than I could have ever expected. The scenery was breath taking and the wildlife was amazing. Only got to see one snake(ribbon), saw a few lizars here and there, a coyote and that was about it. Except for the inverts they were everywhere. If you ever get the chnace make it down this way. We stayed in Terlingua and had 14 acres all to ourselves. Not that we had to go far from the lodge. My son was flipping landscape rocks and found tons of scorps mot more than 10 feet from our front door. We also saw several MM running around looking for actions. If anyone could help identify some of these species that would be awesome. I did not see any vinegaroons but that was about the only thing I was hoping for that we did not run across.

View from the property...

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)MM

 

[ahas]

What' s the #4 T? Pretty cool.

Fred​

 

[dunawayj]

More Pics

 

[dunawayj]

What' s the #4 T? Pretty cool.

Fred​

Not sure. I was told there was only one type of T that could be found here and theyall look quite different. Maybe the same spp but different sexes, age, etc? Hopefully someone can help out.

 

[crpy]

Maybe A. anax perhaps?

 

[Triprion]

Ribbon Snake

I'm glad to see you had a great trip! I just thought I'd point out that Ribbon snakes don't occur in the Big Bend region (absent west of the Pecos River), so what you found was either Salvadora grahamiae or Thamnophis cyrtopsis...do you have photos?
Tim

 

[dunawayj]

I'm glad to see you had a great trip! I just thought I'd point out that Ribbon snakes don't occur in the Big Bend region (absent west of the Pecos River), so what you found was either Salvadora grahamiae or Thamnophis cyrtopsis...do you have photos?
Tim

Thanks, No I was hoping to get photos but we only saw his back half for a couple seconds. i tried to catch him for a photo but he was a little more agile up a cliff side and all the cactus than I was. Looking at the 2 types you mention you are correct it was definately a Salvadora grahamiae. Probobly around 2-3 ft.

 

[hamfoto]

Well...all the pics are of A. echinum, except for #4 which A. sp. Carlsbad Green.
Thanks for the locality...I working on the Aphonopelma here in Texas and didn't realize that the Carlsbad Green's made it down to Terlingua.
If you kept any specimens and want to have them used for science...let me know.

Chris

 

[Brent H.]

Chris -

I have a pretty nice MaxEnt GIS map for the Aphonopelma from Carlsbad... it's interesting.

That "echinum" thing is most likely A. hentzi. The type locality for echinum is SE Colorado (and all that material, including coloradanum, is for all intents and purposes synonymous with hentzi).

Was it Punzo that started calling the brown tarantulas near Big Bend "echinum"? Specimens were certainly never compared to the type.

 

[hamfoto]

Brent,

Yeah, I'd love to see it! Thanks. (**email me when you get a chance)

And yeah, they sure do seem to look like a hentzi (but larger). I have a number of specimens from around the area of SW Texas, so it will be interesting to see who they relate to most.

I think you're right about the echinum name...have you looked at the type? would be interesting to compare these...

I just started my molecular analysis..fingers crossed! I've got a good number of specimens from my study area and lots from outlying areas too.

Chris

 

[dunawayj]

Awesome guys thanks for the IDs. Are you thinking #3 is echinum as well still. I took it into a local pet shop and he said he didnt think it was echinum at all. Just curious.

Hamfoto,
I brought a MM back if you could use that I would not mind you taking him. I did not bring most of what we found back.

 

[Canth]

That wouldn't be The Window trail, would it? Looks really familiar. Well I'm glad you saw more vittatus than we did! I looked high and low for the "pantheriensis" form of C. vittatus (the bright yellow scorp).

I need to make it back out there again, I loved it!

 

[dunawayj]

That wouldn't be The Window trail, would it? Looks really familiar. Well I'm glad you saw more vittatus than we did! I looked high and low for the "pantheriensis" form of C. vittatus (the bright yellow scorp).

I need to make it back out there again, I loved it!

I am pretty sure we will be going back next year too. The trip had been planned for nearly a year to see the sights. The inverts were just an added bonus. Of course that was my favorite part.

Yup, That is us en route to the window. We did the short trip since we had the kids with us. They held up pretty good suprisingly.

The C. Vittatus were all over the property in groups of 3 or more under rocks. My oldest boy was finading them everywhere.

 

[hamfoto]

yeah, it's the "echinum" thingy...just dirty and needs a molt.

And yeah, I would love to have him and use him! Contact me to figure it out.

thanks,
Chris

 

[SNAFU]

Outstanding pics!! :clap: I'm really liking this post as my son and I are planning on driving down to Terlingua. We had planned Sept. but I could not get my time arranged to take off work. My father-in-law goes there to bird hunt a couple of times a year and told me the last trip, they were almost tripping over all the scorps and T's there! Guess he was'nt BS'n me this time.
Here we are now almost the middle of Oct. so I guess I'll plan it next year.

 

[Canth]

Yup, That is us en route to the window. We did the short trip since we had the kids with us. They held up pretty good suprisingly.

Too bad you couldn't get to the actual window. It is breath taking. Even more so in the early evening when the sun's just right

 

[dunawayj]

Too bad you couldn't get to the actual window. It is breath taking. Even more so in the early evening when the sun's just right

No, we did make it all the way to the window and it was awesome. There was a short and long hike to the window and we did the shorter of the two.

 

[josh_r]

as far as the range of the carlesbad green.... i think many people dont realize how large their range really is. i know of a healthy population in arizona. i dont know if anybody realizes they are found in arizona. one of my favorites to catch. they put up one heck of a fight.

-josh

 

[Canth]

No, we did make it all the way to the window and it was awesome. There was a short and long hike to the window and we did the shorter of the two.

Ohhh ok. I didn't realize there were 2 different trails. I think the one we went on was 5 miles total. It was fun but exhausting.

 

[John Apple]

as far as the range of the carlesbad green.... i think many people dont realize how large their range really is. i know of a healthy population in arizona. i dont know if anybody realizes they are found in arizona. one of my favorites to catch. they put up one heck of a fight.

-josh

remember the two we cought Josh...still got them