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

Ptomaphagus fecundus Barr, 1963

Taxonomy

Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Arthropoda
Subphylum Hexapoda
Class Insecta
Order Coleoptera
Family Leiodidae
Genus Ptomaphagus
Species Ptomaphagus fecundus Barr, 1963

Synonyms

  • Ptomaphagus hatchi fecundus (Barr, 1963) (subjective synonym, CoL)

Description

Diagnostic characters

Ecological class
Troglobiont
Realm
Terrestrial
Troglomorphy
Troglomorphic

Distribution

Type locality

Caney Hollow Cave, Franklin Co. TN

Range

Known from one county in Tennessee in the Interior Low Plateau karst region.

Continent

North America

Country

United States

States and provinces

Tennessee

Counties

Tennessee
Franklin

Karst regions

Interior Low Plateau

Genetics

Molecular resources

MarkerMoleculeSequences LengthExemplar
16S mitochondrial 1 1074-1074 bp KT167403.1
COI mitochondrial 1 860-860 bp KT167451.1
cytb mitochondrial 1 357-357 bp KT167499.1

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

Download all 3 sequence records (CSV) Accession, marker, molecule type, length, GenBank definition and a direct link.

Conservation and management

NatureServe

G1 Critically Imperiled

G1▲G2G3G4G5

Global rank last reviewed 27 September 2010.

Subnational ranks

Tennessee
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
4Q9C8
GBIF
9474816
ITIS
933758
iNaturalist
229416
NCBI Taxonomy
1837184

References

  • Barr, T.C., Jr. 1963. Studies on the cavernicole Ptomaphagus of the United States (Coleoptera: Catopidae). Psyche 70: 50–58. doi:10.1155/1963/58018
  • 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. 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. & 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. Conservation ranks were looked up 23 August 2026.

How to cite this account

Ptomaphagus fecundus Barr, 1963. Cave Biology Data Portal, account SP-0839. https://cavebiology.org/species/ptomaphagus-fecundus/ (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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