Sarcophagus Cave

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.

Posted on March 10, 2024 04:54 PM by peterswart