August in the Pecos- Journal Entry Three

8/5/23
Today visited Holy Ghost Creek. Temperature (in the sun) was about 80-84° F. White clouds scudded here and there across an otherwise clear sky. We were thrown into shade and sun alternately.
We took what I think was trail 283 at the far west end of the road. Just prior, Rachel found a sleekly patterned, black-and-white Jumping Spider, probably of the genus Pelegrina.
Further finds by Rachel included a large, pink-striped Crab Spider female guarding her leaf-wrapped egg sac, a Jewel Bug (family Scutellaridae) of the genus Homaemus, and a snail shell. I had never seen Jewel Bugs in the Pecos before this trip, but they did not seem uncommon; we have seen three in all, so far.
The snail shell was something special. It had belonged to a Mountainsnail, genus Oreohelix. I had only ever seen one previously. Like desert regions, the high-altitude forests of the Sangre de Cristos have little gastropod diversity, so the few species that do occur there are noteworthy.
Walking on a few yards across the stream from the first shell’s location, I was astounded to see dozens more empty ones strewn across the forest floor. Mass deposits of snail shells seem to be common, representing many species in different places. Why is this? How does this happen? Are many snails, perhaps, caught by fatal heat and dryness unawares?
Other species seen included:
-A Shamrock Orbweaver (Araneus trifolium). Rachel persuaded the relatively small, red-backed female from her leafy retreat.
-A variety of native bees. One was a Longhorn Bee of the genus Svastra, large, honey-brown, fuzzy, and green-eyed; other bees were metallic green; one had its abdomen checkerboarded in black and white.
-A Comma (genus Polygonia). I had previously seen several of these, but none would stay still long enough to photograph. This individual, however, was very patient and stayed perched for several minutes, on some sort of thistle in an open meadow.
-A red-hued Pinesap plant (Monotropa hypopitys).
-A great variety of other insects, including a Taxiles Skipper (Lon taxiles), Variable Roundtail hoverfly (Meligramma triangulifera), Coral Hairstreak (Satyrium titus), a Thick-headed Fly, species Physocephala burgessi, Cutworm Wasps (genus Podalonia), a Garita Skipperling (Oarisma garita), and more unknown. One insect in particular that I was not able to photograph was a white butterfly, its wing veins heavily outlined in black. It was likely a Pine White (Neophasia menapia).
Other observations: This creek and canyon were exceptionally beautiful in scenery and diverse in species. The complete lack of invasive Honey Bees (Apis mellifera), as in most areas of the Pecos, was refreshing.
This area experienced more wind while we were there than we had yet encountered on our trip.
The differences in flora and fauna of various, otherwise similar locales (canyons, streams, mountains, and hilltops) in the same broad area is intriguing- as are the similarities in species diversity.