Whilst birding the Ash Shargiyah Development Company Farm (Fadhili) with Phil Roberts we found a large number of Sand Swimmer Zophosis complanate. Sand Swimmer is a darkling beetle that is normally found in sand dunes.
They prefer soil with some clay in them and the ones we found were near a wet sabkha area and reeds with the sand having at least some clay content. Their exterior is smooth allowing them to swim through sand often just below the surface.
The beetles we saw were being predated by a Sacred Scarab Scarabaeus sacer, which I do not know if it common or not, but the Sand Swimmers did not appear concerned about the Scarab Beetle at all.
Jem Babbington
Jem Babbington is a keen birder and amateur photographer located in Dhahran, Eastern Saudi Arabia where he goes birding every day. Jem was born in England and is a serious local patch and local area birder who has been birding for almost forty years and has birded in more than fifty countries. Jem is learning to ring birds in Bahrain as a perfect way to learn more about the birds of the area. Saudi Arabia is a very much under-watched and under-recorded country.
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