Drylands cover more than 40% of the earth's land surface and host unique soil meso- and macrofauna vital for ecosystem functioning. Conventional pitfall traps are widely used to assess surface-active invertebrates. However, they do not adequately sample subterranean invertebrates, especially in sandy, arid soils. This methodological gap limits our understanding of the ecological roles of soil fauna in drylands. We aimed to: (i) design a low-cost, stratified subterranean trap for effectively capturing macrofauna in dryland soils, (ii) evaluate the sampling method by comparing invertebrate diversity and life-stage composition between subterranean traps and pitfall traps and (iii) assess temporal and spatial variation in richness, abundance and biomass within subterranean traps across sampling occasions, macrohabitats and soil depths. We deployed the traps at 10 different transect sites within the three different land-use types at the study area in the southern Kalahari, South Africa. The traps captured invertebrates at multiple depths and in various macrohabitats with two distinct soil types (white calcareous and red dune sands). Subterranean traps captured taxa and life stages that were not collected in pitfall traps, including termites (Odontotermes, Microcerotermes), Tenebrionidae larvae and hypogaeic ants (Dorylus spp.). The taxonomic overlap between the methods was low (12%), with pitfall traps that primarily captured epigaeic ants (79%). Subterranean traps revealed seasonal peaks in taxonomic richness, but there was no difference in the levels (strata) at which various species were captured. Across macrohabitats, there were differences in taxonomic abundance, with Tenebrionidae found more in red dunes compared to white calcareous sands. Practical implication. Subterranean traps are a scalable tool and complementary method that improve the ability to monitor and determine soil macrofauna abundance and responses to land-use and climate change, offering insights for dryland conservation, diet studies and ecosystem management.