9/23/2021: Savage Arenivaga of Sahuarita
I had hoped to give this sort of thorough treatment to the Arenivaga floridensis localities we had collected on our last Florida trip, however circumstances dictated otherwise. I may eventually loop back around to those stories, but for now Arizona trip thoughts are fresh in my mind.
William and I met up with bug enthusiast Ben Senigaglia of Sahuarita, Arizona. Ben was gracious enough to show us a spot close to his house where recent concrete work had laid a lucrative trail of disturbed habitat through the desert scrubs.
It seems the area was either irrigated (a dumby, dumb dumb move in the arid southwest) or there was some other electrical equipment requirement as several covered cable capsules lined the sidewalks. These proved to be a treasure trove for nifty desert bugs but… not in the way one may imagine.
In several were piles (some inches thick) of dead, crumbling Eleodes corpses. Perhaps drawn to the dark entry hole by the allure of the darkness or pheromones of previous individuals, these became inescapable mass graves as the Eleodes either ran out of food, overheated, desiccated, or waited out a slow and idle death. However, a familiar insect was very equipped to take advantage of the relatively humid-aired, sheltered, and now food-rich microclimate: it is within these capsule boxes that I encountered the highest density of Arenivaga that I have seen anywhere.
A quality capsule could contain dozens of mixed size Arenivaga, and the number of dead Eleodes was a good indicator of how many sand roaches there would be. Unlike the Eleodes, with an endless supply of soon-to-be food falling in, decent atmospheric water availability, few predators except the occasional widow or spitting spider, and no need for specialized conditions to pupate or reproduce, the Arenivaga were free to enumerate in a plastic paradise. Presumably, adult males could fly into or out of the capsules through the small access hole in the cover at the top; simple as. I was particularly enamored with the sheer metal of the scenario before me; cute, little, squishy sand roaches crawling in, around, and under the titanic, rotting bodies of the ill-fated darklings.
After five or so capsules, I had collected more than enough Arenivaga to take home to create another colony of the locale. To others looking for Arenivaga (and other moisture-sensitive or rodent burrows dwelling desert invertebrates) I cannot recommend checking those structures enough! Just be sure to be gentle with the wires and perhaps have a moment of silence for all the fallen invertebrates who made the treasure trove possible!
-Kyle