Terrestrial Invertebrates

The Jerusalem Cricket looks frightening but is actually quite harmless. 

NPS Photo

 

Cabrillo National Monument and the Point Loma peninsula are home to a variety of terrestrial invertebrates, including insects, spiders, millipedes, centipedes, and a snail. A genus of trap door spider is found here and nowhere else. Black beetles (stink bugs) are common here, and two species of glow worm (beetle larvae) have been found on Point Loma. Until 1995, silk-spinning crickets were found only on Catalina Island and the Tijuana hills; these wingless crickets have now been documented on Point Loma. The large Jerusalem cricket (potato bug) is found here under rocks and wood, and make a tasty meal for foxes and coyotes. The shoulderband snail emerges at night from under rocks during the rainy season.