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

Ptomaphagus chromolithus Peck, 1984

Taxonomy

Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Arthropoda
Subphylum Hexapoda
Class Insecta
Order Coleoptera
Family Leiodidae
Genus Ptomaphagus
Species Ptomaphagus chromolithus Peck, 1984

Description

Diagnostic characters

Ecological class
Troglobiont
Realm
Terrestrial
Troglomorphy
Troglomorphic

Distribution

Type locality

Williams Saltpeter Cave, Jackson Co. AL

Range

Known from two counties across two states in the Interior Low Plateau karst region.

Continent

North America

Country

United States

States and provinces

Alabama, Tennessee

Counties

Alabama
Jackson
Tennessee
Franklin

Karst regions

Interior Low Plateau

Genetics

Molecular resources

MarkerMoleculeSequences LengthExemplar
16S mitochondrial 2 1074-1074 bp KT167401.1
COI mitochondrial 2 860-860 bp KT167449.1
cytb mitochondrial 2 357-357 bp KT167497.1

6 sequences, retrieved 23 August 2026. Counts change as sequences are deposited. Search GenBank.

Download all 6 sequence records (CSV) Accession, marker, molecule type, length, GenBank definition and a direct link.

Conservation and management

NatureServe

G2G3 Imperiled to Vulnerable

G1G2▲G3▲G4G5

Global rank last reviewed 2002.

Subnational ranks

Alabama
S2 Imperiled
Tennessee
S1 Critically Imperiled

State and federal status

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

Other resources

Catalogue of Life
4Q9GM
GBIF
9285438
ITIS
933756
iNaturalist
229413
NCBI Taxonomy
1837181

References

  • Leray, V.L., Caravas, J., Friedrich, M. & Zigler, K.S. 2019. Mitochondrial sequence data indicate "vicariance by erosion" as a mechanism of species diversification in North American Ptomaphagus (Coleoptera, Leiodidae, Cholevinae) cave beetles. Subterranean Biology 29: 35–57.
  • Lewis, J.J. 2005a. A biological inventory of caves of the Cumberland Plateau. Tennessee Chapter Cave Program, The Nature Conservancy, Nashville, Tennessee, USA. 156 pp.
  • 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
  • Peck, S.B. 1973a. A systematic revision and the evolutionary biology of the Ptomaphagus (Adelops) beetles of North America (Coleoptera; Leiodidae; Catopinae), with emphasis on cave-inhabiting species. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology 145: 29–162. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/4336298. details
  • Peck, S.B. 1984. The distribution and evolution of cavernicolous Ptomaphagus beetles in the southeastern United States (Coleoptera; Leiodidae; Cholevinae) with new species and records. Canadian Journal of Zoology 62: 730–740. doi:10.1139/z84-103
  • Peck, S.B. 1995. The cave fauna of Alabama. Part II: The insects. National Speleological Society Bulletin 57: 1–19.
  • Peck, S.B. & Newton, A.F. 2017. An annotated catalog of the Leiodidae (Coleoptera) of the Nearctis Region (continental North America north of Mexico). The Coleopterists Bulletin 71: 211–258. doi:10.1649/0010-065X-71.2.211

This account was last revised 28 August 2026.

How to cite this account

Ptomaphagus chromolithus Peck, 1984. Cave Biology Data Portal, account SP-0836. https://cavebiology.org/species/ptomaphagus-chromolithus/ (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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