Charred trees create a prime environment for beetles like these to lay eggs and reproduce. That’s because the burned trees can no longer produce chemical defenses to battle the bugs.

http://sacramento.cbslocal.com/2017/10/18/burned-trees-beetles/

A desert wood rat peered from a dark cranny. Fitzpatrick also found a 1/10” arachnid called a pseudoscorpion and the shell of a 1/8” Niptus beetle – the caves’ two endemic species.

http://www.pe.com/2017/10/22/magical-mitchell-caverns-finally-reopening-in-mojave-desert-2/