Many predators are well equipped to hunt beneath the surface of the sand. Moles and shrews tunnel for grubs, caterpillars, and other insect larvae that graze on the fine hair-like roots of some scrub plants. Sand skinks live in the sand and search for termites that munch on buried leaves and twigs. Scrub pygmy mole crickets prefer to eat microscopic algae that grow between the grains of sand just under the surface in sunny locations. Because it's a good place to raise young.
Babies can be easier to protect in an enclosed space underground.
Some animals, like the rosemary grasshopper and scrub firefly, lay eggs in the sand but don't make a burrow for them. Most likely, animals dig their home burrows deeper than the tunnels they make while looking for food. To escape fire. Fires occur naturally and frequently in scrub. Although intense, the heat from these fires only penetrates several inches below the surface of the sand.