HARVESTMEN IN WYNBERG
Team: Gonzalo Giribet, Benjamin de Bivort, Anthony Hitchcock, Peter Swart
Observation tag: 20111105
Acknowledgement: All of the photographs taken on this trip were taken by Gonzalo Giribet.
Speliosiro argasiformis |
Gonzalo Giribet and Benjamin de Bivort were visiting from Harvard University, with the intention of sampling various harvestmen (Opiliones) from around South Africa. They asked Anthony and I to accompany them to Wynberg Cave to see if we could find a specific harvestman, Speliosiro argasiformis. This small creature had not been recorded for many years and Gonzalo was anxious to see if it was still around in order to add another data point to the geo-genetic studies he has been doing.
Just arriving at the cave entrance seemed to raise Gonzalo's spirits, as he had read so much about the cave and its invertebrate inhabitants for so long. The question remained whether we would find his Speliosiro.
After entering the cave via what is traditionally known as the exit, Anthony made his way along the passage just below the hanging rope, to the place where we had found some harvestmen and some collembola on our previous bug hunting trip.
Healthy Speliosiro community. |
Orange harvestman |
White harvestman |
Before moving to the next cave, we went looking for the tiny isopods we had found on our previous trips. These are less than 2mm long and are possibly Protojanieria.
After all the excitement of Wynberg Cave, we made our way across to Vivarium. The only animals of interest there were the
Speleogriphus lepidops.
INUKSHUK
Peripatopsis alba |
Pseudo scorpion |
This proved to be an excellent choice to finish off the day as Gonzalo found an 8mm long pseudo scorpion and a Peripatopsis alba. Both of these animals were approximately 4m below the surface, and very close to the twightlight zone of the cave.
These are only a few of the animals we found. There were at least 3 other species of harvestmen that we found in the forest litter at Wynberg Cave exit and near the entrance to Inukshuk Cave.
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