Landscape and a political border determine desert arthropods distribution

► Beetles and spiders assemblages show dissimilarities based on geopolitical location. ► Landscape units and the border are important for species diversity of the Arava. ► There was no diversity congruency across taxonomic groups. ► We found 6 Tenebrionid beetles that can serve as indicators for the landscape units. ► Dune and non dune sandy habitats in the Arava show similar species composition.