Capturing the elusive camel spider (Arachnida: Solifugae): effective methods for attracting and capturing solifuges

Abstract

Camel spiders (Arachnida: Solifugae) are a notoriously difficult group of arachnids to study. They are almost all strictly nocturnal, fast moving predators that are difficult to find, collect, and rear. In this paper, we present methods for both attracting solifuges in desert field sites and collecting them efficiently using a combination of light attraction and pitfall trapping techniques. Although many of these methods have been used by solifuge collectors for decades, they are not typically described in detail in the literature nor have the methods been consolidated in a single paper. We hope that doing so will enable others to more efficiently target this group of arachnids.