Sarça Ardente

The expedition became known as “Sarça Ardente” — a nickname that emerged after surreal encounters with a group of religious intruders who trespassed into the Tinguá reserve at night to perform rituals around a bioluminescent fungus. Mistaking it for the biblical burning bush from Exodus 3, they clashed repeatedly with federal park agents, creating an atmosphere as bizarre as it was tense. The contrast between our meticulous scientific survey and the fervent mysticism of these nightly visits gave the expedition its ironic name — Sarça Ardente, a symbol of the strange intersections between nature, belief, and law enforcement in the field.

The "Sarça Ardente" expedition was conducted in January 2020 at the REBIO do Tinguá, one of Rio de Janeiro's most important biological reserves. The expedition focused on documenting arachnid diversity across different elevational zones and microhabitats within this well-preserved Atlantic Forest fragment.

Led by A.B. Kury, the field team included M.A. Medrano and D.R. Pedroso, utilizing the reserve's research station facilities for intensive collecting activities. The team explored diverse forest environments from lowland areas near the alojamento to higher elevation sites along the Miguel Pereira road.

The REBIO do Tinguá provided exceptional collecting opportunities across its three sampled locations, yielding significant opilionid specimens characteristic of the Serra do Mar Atlantic Forest fauna. This expedition contributed valuable material to ongoing phylogenetic studies and reinforced the importance of protected areas for arachnid conservation in the Rio de Janeiro metropolitan region.