This is not a great photo, (I took it in a dark exhibit room at the White Sands Visitor Center) but it gives an idea of how the Tularosa Valley, where White Sands is located, formed. The valley (low middle section) was once a huge dome that collapsed 10 million years ago. The Sacramento Mountains are on the right side of the exhibit, they are 1000 feet higher than the San Andreas mountains on the left side. We saw the bands of rocks as we drove along the highways near Alamogordo. Some bands were horizontal, others were nearly vertical, proof of the incredible upheaval the area once underwent.
Blister Beetle with short-wings Megetra sp. White Sands National Monument Oct. 1, 2008 I saw this strange beetle walking on the sidewalk in front of the visitor center at the park. Someone on Bugguide called it a "football player beetle" because of the short, shoulderpad-like elytra (cover wings).
Las Cruces, NM Oct. 4, 2008 I chased this butterfly around the visitor center for several minutes at White Sands before I could get a good shot of it! This photo made the chasing worth it. :)