Trip Date: 2024-03-10
Visited Sarcophagus Cave to look for bugs.
My last visit was in Nov 1993. This cave is small, with less than 20m of passage. The high level left hand fork is very narrow and mostly dry. The right hand fork descends from the entrance to a small chamber. A stream issues from a narrow crack and forms a small pool (40cm diameter) on the floor. The stream was flowing and the pool was full, even at the end of March. The cave does not have a true dark zone, so apart from the three entrances, the rest of the cave can be considered a transition zone for bug purposes.
Left passage Pool and surrounds
8x Paramelita, 6 large and 2 quite small.
1x very small, gray flat worm
7x Spelaeiacris tabularis, 4 large, 3 small
2x very fine sheet spider webs in cracks, no spiders visible.
Left passage entrance
There is very dense fynbos and a small tree outside the left entrance, and rich humus falls into the cave. There is also an old plastic bag buried in the soil, and the rusted remains of an old camping gaz canister.
This humus was home to many small bugs and spiders, including 2 harvestmen. I also finally found the spider that creates the sheet webs.
This harvestman was found in the leaf litter that had fallen into the cave entrance. Sharply triangular sternum.
This harvestman was approx 30cm from https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/202084381. This one has an almost translucent gray colour. The other appears more brown. Is this perhaps a juvenile Cryptadaeum capense?
Its looks similar to https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/190305141 from Egyptian Cave, which is 200m west of Sarcophagus Cave.
Approx. 8mm long. Found on a ledge just inside the cave entrance.
Approx 12mm long, deeply notched coxa 4, 70+ segments on Ant 1, 25 on Ant 2. This was the largest paramelita of 8 in a 40cm diameter pool. I later found more up stream and down stream of the pool. Upstream, the paramelita were in little cups of water as the stream flowed down a 1.5 sloping drop.
Found in the leaf litter near the cave entrance. 11mm long. Moves both backwards and forwards with equal speed when trying to evade the photographer. It anchored itself with silk when confined.
Smallest of 8 paramelita in the pool. Approx 8mm long, Ant1: 26 segments, Ant2: 15 segment. Ant 1 slightly longer than Ant 2. Is this a juvenile Paramelita capensis, or something else?
Very fresh dassie droppings. I did not see any dassies during the 3 hours I was in and around the cave.
These bristle tails appear much shorter than the others I have seen, and are much lighter in colour.
This lichen was on the walls of the narrow passage leading to the entrance of the cave. It gets direct sunlight when the sun is directly over the entrance crack, but spends most of the day in shade. This only occurred just outside the entrance dripline, and not inside the cave.
Small spider on its web. The sheet web was approx 5cm x 4cm, and a few mm above the rock ledge it was on. The web was close to the cave entrance, but tucked on a ledge in a side passage that gets very little light.
I think this is the same spider as https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/202524998, but cannot be sure as I lost the label on the specimen bottle.
I think this may be the same spider as https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/202523723.
Probably the same spider as https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/202527715
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