While this site deals mainly with insects, a large number of non-insect arthropods can also be found at Coal Oil Point. These are also important elements of the Reserve's ecology, though we know too little about them to do them justice here. The Reserve's spider and mite fauna appears especially diverse, and we show a few examples of these arachnids here. The dune spider Lutica maculata is rarely seen but common in the dunes in Santa Barbara and Ventura counties. At Coal Oil point, this whitish spider can be seen in silk burrows around dune plants. They probably feed on larvae of dune beetles.

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

Arthropod Photos (click to enlarge)
Araneae - Spiders
Acari - Ticks
Amphipoda - Beach hoppers
Megalorchestia
Diplopoda - Millepedes
Isopoda - Pillbugs
Pseudoscorpiones - Pseudoscorpions
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