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

Clarus Cave Springtail
Pygmarrhopalites clarus (Christiansen, 1966)

Taxonomy

Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Arthropoda
Subphylum Hexapoda
Class Collembola
Order Symphypleona
Family Arrhopalitidae
Genus Pygmarrhopalites
Species Pygmarrhopalites clarus (Christiansen, 1966)

Synonyms

  • Arrhopalites clarus Christiansen, 1966 (prior combination, CoL)

Description

Diagnostic characters

Ecological class
Troglobiont
Realm
Terrestrial
Troglomorphy
Troglomorphic

Distribution

Type locality

Rockhouse Cave, Barry Co., MO

Range

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

Continent

North America

Country

United States

States and provinces

Arkansas, Missouri, South Dakota, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, West Virginia

Counties

Arkansas
Newton
Missouri
Barry, Perry

Karst regions

Appalachians, Driftless Area, Interior Low Plateau, Other, Ozarks

Specimens

Type material

Holotype
32631 · Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard

Collections holding material

InstitutionLots
Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard 1
National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution 1
Natural History Museum, London 1

3 cataloged lots in 3 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 3 specimen records (CSV) Institution, catalog number, type status and preparation. No coordinates.

Conservation and management

NatureServe

G4 Apparently Secure

G1G2G3G4▲G5

Global rank last reviewed 21 August 2002.

Subnational ranks

Arkansas
S1S2 Critically Imperiled to Imperiled
Missouri
S3 Vulnerable
South Dakota
SNR Unranked
Virginia
S3 Vulnerable
Washington
SNR Unranked
West Virginia
S1 Critically Imperiled
Wisconsin
SNR Unranked

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
4QNYB
GBIF
10565014
iNaturalist
229500

References

  • McDaniel, V.R. & Smith, K.L. 1976. Cave fauna of Arkansas: selected invertebrate taxa. Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science 30: 57–60. https://scholarworks.uark.edu/jaas/vol30/iss1/22. details
  • Peck, S.B. & Lewis, J.J. 1978. Zoogeography and evolution of the subterranean invertebrate faunas of Illinois and southeastern Missouri. National Speleological Society Bulletin 40: 39–63.
  • Webb, D.W., Taylor, S.J. & Krejca, J.K. 1993. The biological resources of Illinois caves and other subterranean environments. Illinois Natural History Survey, Champaign, Illinois, USA. 143 pp.

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

How to cite this account

Pygmarrhopalites clarus (Christiansen, 1966). Cave Biology Data Portal, account SP-0458. https://cavebiology.org/species/pygmarrhopalites-clarus/ (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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