Home on the range: a pilot study on solifuge (Solifugae: Eremobatidae) site fidelity at Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge

Abstract. Many animals, including many arachnids, return to an established “home” after an active period. Although desert-adapted solifuges shelter from the sun in retreats, it is unknown if these solifuges “home” to and re-use the same retreats over multiple consecutive periods. We sought to investigate whether individual solifuges exhibit site fidelity (philopatry) and could be found repeatedly within the same small geographic area using a simple mark-and-recapture study design. Over the course of the seven-day study period, nine of 46 solifuges were recaptured once, and two were recaptured a second time, with an average of 4.17 m between encounters. This rate of recapture is suggestive that solifuges remain in or return to the same geographic area over some period of time – a prerequisite for homing behavior. Further investigation is warranted to establish if solifuges are repeatedly using the same retreats, and if so, how they are navigating during homing.