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Subterranean biodiversity of North America and around the globe

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Cave Biology Data Portal
Subterranean biodiversity of North America and around the globe
AnimaliaArthropodaHexapodaCollembolaEntomobryomorphaEntomobryidaeSinella

Hoffman's Cave Springtail
Sinella hoffmani Wray, 1952

Taxonomy

Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Arthropoda
Subphylum Hexapoda
Class Collembola
Order Entomobryomorpha
Family Entomobryidae
Genus Sinella
Species Sinella hoffmani Wray, 1952

Description

Diagnostic characters

Ecological class
Troglobiont
Realm
Terrestrial
Troglomorphy
Troglomorphic

Distribution

Type locality

Lowmoor Cave, Alleghany Co. VA

Range

Known from seven counties across seven states across three karst regions.

Continent

North America

Countries

Mexico, United States

States and provinces

Kentucky, Maryland, Mexico, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia

Counties

Kentucky
Pulaski
Mexico
FELIPE CARRILLO PUERTO, Quintana Roo
Virginia
Alleghany, Allegheny, Bath
West Virginia
Monroe

Karst regions

Appalachians, Interior Low Plateau, Other

Specimens

Collections holding material

InstitutionLots
National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution 2
Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico 1
Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard 1
Natural History Museum, London 1

5 cataloged lots in 4 collections. Compiled from GBIF and not an exhaustive census: many collections are not yet digitised, and holdings are added continually. Search GBIF for specimen records.

Download all 5 specimen records (CSV) Institution, catalog number, type status and preparation. No coordinates.

Conservation and management

NatureServe

G5 Secure

G1G2G3G4G5▲

Global rank last reviewed 21 August 2002.

Subnational ranks

Maryland
SNR Unranked
Pennsylvania
SNR Unranked
Tennessee
S3 Vulnerable
Virginia
S3S4 Vulnerable to Apparently Secure
West Virginia
S3 Vulnerable

Ranks looked up 23 August 2026. Conservation status changes, and a rank here is as current as that date and no more.

State and federal status

Not listed under the U.S. Endangered Species Act.

Other resources

Catalogue of Life
4XJS2
GBIF
2120730
ITIS
99736
iNaturalist
231027

References

  • Christiansen, K. 1960c. The genus Sinella Brook (Collembola: Entomobryidae) in Nearctic caves. Annals of the Entomological Society of America 53: 481–491. doi:10.1093/aesa/53.4.481
  • Lewis, J.J. 2004. Interstate 66 karst faunal study. Environmental Impact Statement. 17 pp.
  • Nicholas, G. 1960. Checklist of macroscopic troglobitic organisms of the United States. The American Midland Naturalist 64: 123–160. doi:10.2307/2422897

This account was last revised 28 August 2026. Conservation ranks were looked up 23 August 2026.

How to cite this account

Sinella hoffmani Wray, 1952. Cave Biology Data Portal, account SP-0416. https://cavebiology.org/species/sinella-hoffmani/ (accessed 18 October 2026).
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Data sources and funding are listed in the Acknowledgments.

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Cave Biology Data Portal

Species accounts, distributions, and conservation status for the subterranean fauna of North America and around the globe, with resources for the cave and karst research community.

Text and data CC BY 4.0. Images all rights reserved unless stated.

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