Vivarium - Entrance and Upsteam
Trip Date: 2024-05-29
Vivarium is a small cave with two entrances. The 'back' entrance is via a boulder choke, and the 'front' entrance is a largish opening into the main chamber of the cave. The opening is large enough to allow a lot of light (and wind) into the chamber. A stream flows from the dark part of the cave into the main chamber. This configuration means you often find animals from 'the dark zone' in a relatively well lit zone.
This trip was confined to the boulder choke entrance and the dark, 'up-stream' part of the cave.
The top of the boulder choke is outside the cave, and bottom is well into the darkest part of the twilight/transition zone. The boulder choke was full of the usual suspects:
- Cave crickets
- Bristletails
- Cave daddy-long legs spiders
Just inside the entrance of the cave was a crane-fly like creature.
At the deepest part of boulder choke, where the dark part of the twilight zone becomes complete darkness, there were two bristletails, a few cave crickets, and a centipede. The centipede hid in a rock crevice before I could photograph it.
Bristletails
Bristletails seem to prefer being in the darkest part of the twilight zone of the cave. They are usually found inside the crevices between boulders in the twilight zone. Out side of the boulder pile, indirect light may be visible to the human eye, but 1m into the boulder pile, only dimly reflected, indirect, indirect would be present, and it appears to be completely dark to the human eye.
Spiders
A Metellina spider had its web across a gap in the boulders, but the wind coming out of the cave was buffeting the web quite violently, and the spider decided to hide in a crevice next to its web.
There were lots of Spermophora of all sizes in the twilight zone and in the gaps between the boulders.
Aquatic
I saw some quite large (18mm?) Paramelita and a lot of Spelaeogriphus lepidops in the upstream section of the cave.
A visit to the main chamber is still needed.
Observations
Photos / Sounds
What
Large Crane Flies (Family Tipulidae)Observer
peterswartDescription
Found just inside in the entrance of cave. When disturbed, it flew into darker parts of the twilight zone, and came back to its original spot near the light. The cave entrance is a sheltered spot, but a strong wind sometimes blows through the cave as it has two entrances.
Photos / Sounds
What
Cave Daddylonglegs (Spermophora peninsulae)Observer
peterswartDescription
Common in the entrance and twilight parts of the cave.
Photos / Sounds
What
Genus MachiloidesObserver
peterswartDescription
Found in the gaps between boulders in the boulder choke entrance.
Photos / Sounds
What
Table Mountain Cave Cricket (Spelaeiacris tabulae)Observer
peterswartDescription
Cave crickets occurred from deep into the dark zone to well into the entrance zone of the cave.
Photos / Sounds
What
Genus MalaikaObserver
peterswartDescription
A few of these occurred in messy webs where two rock form a corner to build a web.
Photos / Sounds
What
Table Mountain Cave Shrimp (Spelaeogriphus lepidops)Observer
peterswartDescription
Small (4-6mm) endemic Isopod.
Photos / Sounds
What
Metellina haddadiObserver
peterswartDescription
This spider was clinging to the rock wall near the cave entrance. The web spanned a very windy gap between two boulders. The web was bouncing violently in the wind coming out of the cave.
Photos / Sounds
What
Genus MachiloidesObserver
peterswartDescription
This bristle tail was in the deepest, darkest part of the twilight zone.
Photos / Sounds
What
Cave Daddylonglegs (Spermophora peninsulae)Observer
peterswartDescription
This is quite a large example of this type of spider. They are usually much smaller.
Photos / Sounds
What
Genus MachiloidesObserver
peterswartDescription
This small Machiloides was in the twilight area of the cave, but in the darkness under a boulder. This was the smallest of three that were all next to each other. The body is about 6mm long. It appeared much lighter than the others next to it, and on closer inspection appears to not have its outer skin of scales.
Photos / Sounds
What
Genus MachiloidesObserver
peterswartDescription
This bristletail was in the deep, dark part of the twilight zone
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