The influence of the lunar cycle on ground-dwelling invertebrates in an Arabian desert

Ground-dwelling, desert invertebrates were sampled using pitfall traps during six consecutive full and new moons to test the hypothesis that the lunar cycle influences catches. Invertebrates were placed in four functional groups: predaceous arthropods, social insects, detritivores, and herbivores. There were significant differences in the abundance and number of taxa of predaceous arthropods between full and new moons. The catch of total arthropods and detritivores was higher on stable gravel substrates than on mobile sand substrates. Fewer predaceous arthropods were active during full moons than new moons, possibly because of the increased risk of vertebrate predation. Substrate was more likely to influence diversity and abundance of non-predaceous invertebrates than moon phase. Both factors must be taken into account when designing sampling regimes for biodiversity assessment in deserts