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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
AnimaliaArthropodaChelicerataArachnidaAraneaeTheridiidaeCryptachaea

Cobweb Spiders
Cryptachaea porteri (Banks, 1896)

Taxonomy

Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Arthropoda
Subphylum Chelicerata
Class Arachnida
Order Araneae
Family Theridiidae
Genus Cryptachaea
Species Cryptachaea porteri (Banks, 1896)

Description

Diagnostic characters

Ecological class
Troglophile
Realm
Terrestrial

Distribution

Range

Known from 15 counties across five states.

Continent

North America

Country

United States

States and provinces

Alabama, Georgia, Indiana, New Mexico, Tennessee

Counties

Alabama
Blount, Calhoun, Colbert, Jackson, Lauderdale, Limestone, Madison, Marshall, Morgan
Georgia
Dade, Walker
Indiana
Monroe
New Mexico
Eddy
Tennessee
DeKalb, Jackson

Conservation and management

NatureServe

GNR Unranked

G1G2G3G4G5

National ranks

United States
NNR

Subnational ranks

Indiana
SNR Unranked
West Virginia
SNR Unranked

State and federal status

Not listed under the U.S. Endangered Species Act

References

  • Archer, A.F. 1946. The Theridiidae or comb-footed spiders of Alabama. Paper of the Alabama Museum of Natural History 22: 1–67.
  • Banta, A.M. 1907. The fauna of Mayfield's Cave. Carnegie Institution of Washington Publication 67: 1–114. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/60987.
  • Barr, T.C. & Reddell, J.R. 1967. The arthropod cave fauna of the Carlsbad Caverns region, New Mexico. The Southwestern Naturalist 12: 253–273.
  • Godwin, J.C. 2008. Biological inventory of the cave and karst systems of The Nature Conservancy's Sharp-Bingham Mountain Preserve. Alabama Natural Heritage Program, Auburn, Alabama, USA. 40 pp.
  • Lewis, J.J. & Lewis, S.L. 2007. A biological reconnaissance of selected caves in the Highland Rim area of central Tennessee. Tennessee Chapter Cave Program, The Nature Conservancy, Nashville, Tennessee, USA. 42 pp.
  • Lewis, J.J., Whitaker, J.O. & Krantz, G.W. 2010. A biological reconnaissance of the invertebrate fauna of twelve Tennessee caves with notes on the guanophilic mites of the genus Macrocheles. Journal of the Tennessee Academy of Science 85: 53–61.
  • Peck, S.B. 1989. The cave fauna of Alabama. Part I. The terrestrial invertebrates (excluding insects). National Speleological Society Bulletin 51: 11–33.
  • Zigler, K.S., Niemiller, M.L., Stephen, C.D.R., Ayala, B.N., Milne, M.A., Gladstone, N.S., Engel, A.S., Jensen, J.B., Camp, C.D., Ozier, J.C. & Cressler, A. 2020. Biodiversity from caves and other subterranean habitats of Georgia, USA. Journal of Cave and Karst Studies 82: 125–167. doi:10.4311/2019LSC0125

How to cite this account

Cryptachaea porteri (Banks, 1896). Cave Biology Data Portal, account SP-1637. https://cavebiology.org/species/cryptachaea-porteri/ (accessed 7 September 2026).

Data sources and funding are listed in the Acknowledgments.

Spotted something wrong on this page? Report a correction. Accounts are compiled from many sources and corrections from people who know the group are the most useful email we get.

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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