The next time you're driving Gates Pass, look to your right between the bottom of the pass and Old Tucson, and in a turnout for a hiking trail you will see a sign. That sign welcomes visitors to the Sonoran Arthropod Studies Institute (SASI), a non profit educational and research institution that teaches children, adults, and even physicians about the insects and other critters that live here in the Sonoran Desert.
The other day institute director Emily Francis was kind enough to conduct a personal tour of the facility (former headquarters of the Westward Ho Ranch), describe SASI's mission and introduce some arthropod friends.
Arthropods are any segmented invertebrate. This large group includes insects, spiders, crustaceans (lobsters and the like) and myriapods (centipedes, millipedes). They comprise the largest group of animals on the planet, They are usually the first wildlife studied by children, whether it be fireflies back east, or tarantulas here, they are small, plentiful and fascinating, the perfect subject for the naturalists of tomorrow.
Many adults are still fascinated by insects and their kin, and with gardeners building bee houses and introducing lady bugs into their gardens for natural insect control, people are realizing more and more the valuable roll that insects play in their lives and in the world.
Even in the winter, SASI has great creepy crawlies to entice children (and adults) into learning about nature. There are tarantulas, millipedes, centipeds, vinagaroons (which spray a vinegar smelling substance out of it's rear when disturbed. The smell will make your nose hairs tingle) and black widow spiders, among others carefully housed in terrariums.
Emily pointed out that all of her arthropods are currently on diets (like the rest of the country), and the bark scorpions looked especially enamored with their lives of leisure.
SASI is a non-profit started in 1986 by Director Emeritus Steve Prchal, to serve as both a research facility and educational center. If you click the Education Link on the website you will be taken to a page where you can click Anthropods which will take you to some recent papers written about insects in the Sonoran Desert. They are written for a lay audience, so they are informative, brief and practical.
SASI provides educational talks in conjunction with nature walks every fourth Saturday (except December) for children and adults. Called Community Days, these events are free to the public (though donations are of course accepted), and are conducted at the institute on Gates Pass Road. The day starts off with a 9 am nature walk to different areas of the Tucson Mountain Park surrounding SASI's facilities. This is followed by presentations by local experts in many fields related to arthropods and the environment.
Live arthropods are always on hand, and experts will be able to discuss these arthropods and their place in the Sonoran Desert. There are also workshops for all ages and include making habitats for arthropods, creating your own collections of live or pinned specimens and much more.
SASI also hosts two annual conferences, one for physicians to help them understand what some of the nastier critters' stings and bites do, and one for institutions and individuals interested in keeping live arthropods, both conferences are listed on the SASI website (link above) and there is also a link on the site to sign up for information on future events as well as the newsletter.
The Sonoran Desert is home to an amazing array of species found nowhere else on earth. Here live spiders as large as your hand and the wicked looking wasps that prey on them. Centipeds orange and black scuttle across the road in the evenings, and otherworldly and alien looking insects seem to be lurking in every door way. Consider the desert an insect safari, and SASI your field guides.
A special thanks to Emily Francis SASI's executive director for taking time out of her day to enthusiastically show me around this amazing facility. I was peering over the locked gate at the sign and wondering what cool things they did there, when she drove up and joyfully offered to give a tour. This is a great hidden gem in Tucson that doesn't deserve to be hidden. Thanks again to Emily for taking the time to tell me (and my mom who was tagging along) all about this cool place, and introduce me to her critters.
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