Goeden’s shieldback
Idiostatus goedeni


Male, Siskiyou County, California: Lava Beds National Monument.
Photograph by Ron Lyons, used by permission.

In email of 10 Dec 2010, Ron Lyons sent these details of the circumstances of his photographing living I. goedeni:

Goeden's Shieldback

All of these pictures are from Lava Beds National Monument in Siskiyou County of California. This amounts to a slight extension of the known range to the south. In 2009 I photographed a couple of inyo-group females on the A12 road near Highway 97 (north of Weed). I collected a specimen late that season but unfortunately it seems that it was eaten by a pair of Capnobotes in my terrarium (won't do that again)! So, I was unable to verify that it was a goedeni, but it seems more likely with the Lava Beds data. I didn't find any goedeni on my visits to the A12-Highway 97 region this year.

I found an immature male and female on my first vist August 18, 2010. On my second visit August 25 I found a mature female. All the pictures included here are from my third and last visit. I am including pictures of the only adult male I photographed, and a close up of its cerci. These are clear enough to show the shape although the contrast with the paved road isn't great. I have included two females. One is more heavily marked than the other. It seems greyish while the other seems brownish (at least to me).

Female (pictures 1 and 2) grey female (IMG_6966 and IMG_6970) 2010 September 28
USA: CA: Siskiyou: Lava Beds National Monument: on main road about 0.4 miles west of east entrance [=southeast entrance: see details of I. inermis photos.]

Male (pictures 3 4 5 and 6) grey (prfile dorsal and cerci(2)) 2010 September 28
USA: CA: Siskiyou: Lava Beds National Monument: on main road about 2.3 miles west of east entrance

Female (pictures 1 and 2) brownish female (lighter coloration of dorsal strip and pronotum) (IMG_7002 and IMG_7004) 2010 September 28
USA: CA: Siskiyou: Lava Beds National Monument: on main road about 2.6 miles west of east entrance