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

Cumberland Gap Cave Beetle
Pseudanophthalmus hirsutus Valentine, 1931

Taxonomy

Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Arthropoda
Subphylum Hexapoda
Class Insecta
Order Coleoptera
Family Carabidae
Genus Pseudanophthalmus
Species Pseudanophthalmus hirsutus Valentine, 1931

Description

Diagnostic characters

Ecological class
Troglobiont
Realm
Terrestrial
Troglomorphy
Troglomorphic

Distribution

Type locality

Cudjos Caverns, Lee Co. VA

Range

Known from three counties across two states in the Appalachians karst region.

Continent

North America

Country

United States

States and provinces

Tennessee, Virginia

Counties

Tennessee
Claiborne, [Not Stated]
Virginia
Lee

Karst regions

Appalachians

Specimens

Type material

Holotype
National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution
Holotype
National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution

Collections holding material

InstitutionLots
National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution 2
Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard 1

3 cataloged lots in 2 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

G1G2 Critically Imperiled to Imperiled

G1▲G2▲G3G4G5

Global rank last reviewed 21 August 2002.

Subnational ranks

Tennessee
S1 Critically Imperiled
Virginia
S1 Critically Imperiled

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
4NKG3
GBIF
1035131
ITIS
110119
iNaturalist
228975

References

  • Barr, T.C., Jr. 1965. The Pseudanophthalmus of the Appalachian Valley (Coleoptera: Carabidae). The American Midland Naturalist 73: 41–72. doi:10.2307/2423320
  • Barr, T.C., Jr. 1981. Pseudanophthalmus from Appalachian caves (Coleoptera: Carabidae): the engelhardti complex. Brimleyana 5: 37–94.
  • Barr, T.C., Jr. 2004. A classification and checklist of the genus Pseudanophthalmus Jeannel (Coleoptera: Carabidae: Trechinae). Special Publication 11. Virginia Museum of Natural History, Martinsville, Virginia, USA. 52 pp.
  • Bousquet, Y. 2012. Catalogue of Geadephaga (Coleoptera: Adephaga) of America, north of Mexico. ZooKeys 245: 1–1. doi:10.3897/zookeys.245.3416
  • Erwin, T.L. & House, G.N. 1978. A catalogue of the primary types of Carabidae (incl. Cicindelinae) in the collections of the United States National Museum of Natural History (USNM) (Coleoptera). The Coleopterists Bulletin 32: 231–256. https://www.jstor.org/stable/3999875. details
  • Nicholas, G. 1960. Checklist of macroscopic troglobitic organisms of the United States. The American Midland Naturalist 64: 123–160. doi:10.2307/2422897
  • Niemiller, M.L. & Zigler, K.S. 2013. Patterns of cave biodiversity and endemism in the Appalachians and Interior Plateau of Tennessee, USA. PLOS One 8: e64177. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0064177
  • Trumbore, L.E., Reynolds, R.J., Thomas, S.C., Orndorff, W., Cramphorn, B., Gladstone, N.S., Harden, C.W., Lewis, J.J., Milne, M.A., Ober, K.A., Shear, W.A., Stephen, C.D.R. & Zigler, K.S. 2024. Cave biodiversity of Cumberland Gap National Historical Park. Journal of Cave and Karst Studies 86: 13–24. doi:10.4311/2022LSC0116
  • Valentine, J.M. 1931. New cavernicole Carabidae of the subfamily Trechinae Jeannel. Journal of the Elisha Mitchell Scientific Society 46: 247–258.
  • Valentine, J.M. 1932b. A classification of the genus Pseudanophthalmus Jeannel (Fam. Carabidae) with descriptions of new species and notes on distribution. Journal of the Elisha Mitchell Scientific Society 47: 261–280. https://www.jstor.org/stable/24332003. details
  • Valentine, J.M. 1937. Anophthalmid beetles (fam. Carabidae) from Tennessee caves. Journal of the Elisha Mitchell Scientific Society 53: 93–100.

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

How to cite this account

Pseudanophthalmus hirsutus Valentine, 1931. Cave Biology Data Portal, account SP-0708. https://cavebiology.org/species/pseudanophthalmus-hirsutus/ (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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