9/18/2021: Down Bowlin’s Rabbit Hole- Dangerously beautiful Arenivaga!
I have gained quite the reputation for myself over the years as the burrow-fister. This mythos is… fairly well-earned; my appetite for new Arenivaga acquisition by questionably safe means does require me to put my hands in odd places from time to time. Not all Arenivaga need to be dredged out of linear burrows; many can be found contently plopped in the duff beneath nesting material under boards, signs, or in collapsed burrow systems, and these are my preferred places to pick through.
Desperate times can call for desperate measures, and when in a new location the most sure-fire way to find Arenivaga is to get elbow deep in a dusty creosote hole.
I will come out and say in my burrow fisting times, I have been covered in fleas, stung by scorpions twice, and played literal grab-ass with a jackrabbit, and yet I am still compelled to explore them bare-handed in search for delightfully ovoid and troglodytic Arenivaga. I have been asked… why not use gloves? The tragic truth is that the reduction of dexterity from most handwear is a death sentence for sand roaches; it is too easy to drag, crush, and maim them when wearing truly protective gloves. Thus, I approach the task as carefully as one can. Other than the aforementioned experiences, the only other danger I’ve encountered while fisting was a persistent buzzing noise from a nearby tunnel, which I have been informed was not a rattlesnake as one may expect but a colony of Sonoran bumblebees.
Bowlin’s Old West Trading Post is a stereotyped, cheeky, but pleasant refueling stop in southern New Mexico. Off the main road and down into the hinterlands, there’s a wasteland of creosote and mesquite scrub littered with rodent burrows of various ages. It was here that the last bug hunting collective found another Arenivaga locality which was again lost to culture a few times, but one which, as an endcap to our southwestern collecting adventures, I am particularly enamored with.
The past few times of collecting were very fruitful with nymphs of all sizes and some adults… Unfortunately on this trip William and I were out of luck and I was only able to locate first and second instar nymphs of good health. My first handful of substrate did yield a sizable nymph… unfortunately, already on its way out from what appeared to be desiccation. Despite their resilience, Arenivaga are only iron-clad when in their element; they quickly desiccate in improper set ups and tolerate less dryness than dubia roaches, in some ways. I am left to wonder if the absence of larger individuals was seasonal (a natural die off after breeding of the adults, leaving the next generation as ooths until favorable conditions arrived to hatch them), or a freak event triggered by sudden dry conditions after the roaches had moved upwards in the burrows for whatever reasons. Maybe Occam’s razor is larger individuals had moved down into the burrows to avoid dryness, as I didn’t reach past my elbow into the chambers this time due to an abundance of duff closer to the openings. Past collecting was unlikely to have had this direct effect, although I was a bit ashamed to see one of the burrows I had previously excavated collapsed in and void of new openings around it. I plan to continue my less intrusive excavation approach, should I ever have to return to collect more.
A page will go up for this species/locality when nymphs begin to mature (currently they are all yellow-y white as most Arenivaga are in their first instar or two), but without proper pictures and continuing on my fascination with them before, this species has gorgeous nymphs that truly look like an expressionist interpretation of the landscape around them; bold red and orange on the abdomen, trickles of dark green across the thorax, and creamy yellow across the pronotum that accentuates the darker colors. For an organism that spends its time in complete darkness, I wonder why these patterns would have came about. What purpose do such beautiful visuals serve in darkness? Maybe they’re just a tiny gift from Nature for those of us bold but dumb enough to go looking for the little guys…
-Kyle