The orientation behaviour of Pachyphaleria capensis (Laporte), a psammo-halophilic tenebrionid beetle of southwestern Africa, was investigated. Skototaxis and pilotage are the main mechanisms adopted by the beetle to escape solar radiation. Keywords: Heliotaxis, Indoor quantitative test, Negative phototactic response, Orientation responses, Phototactic behaviour pattern, Quantitative laboratory observations, Riparian arthropods, Sun orientation, Sun zenith.