Slender Ground Beetle
Platynus tenuicollis (LeConte, 1846)

Taxonomy

Description

Diagnostic characters

Ecological class

Troglophile

Realm

Terrestrial

Distribution

Range

Known from 31 counties across eight states.

Continent

North America

Country

United States

States and provinces

Alabama, Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri, Tennessee, Virginia

Counties

Alabama

Blount, Calhoun, Jackson, Madison

Arkansas

Washington

Illinois

Hardin, Jackson, Johnson, Monroe

Indiana

Lawrence, Monroe, Orange

Kentucky

Carter, Crittenden, Elliott

Missouri

Jefferson, Perry, St. Charles, St. Genevieve

Tennessee

Clay, Fentress, Franklin, Jackson, Montgomery, Overton, Perry, Pickett, Rutherford, Van Buren, White

Virginia

Lee

Conservation and management

NatureServe

G5 Secure

National ranks

United States

NNR

Canada

N5 Secure

Subnational ranks

Illinois

SNR Unranked

Rhode Island

SNR Unranked

Indiana

S5 Secure

Alabama

SNR Unranked

New Brunswick

S4 Apparently Secure

Nova Scotia

S5 Secure

Quebec

SNR Unranked

Manitoba

SNR Unranked

Ontario

S4 Apparently Secure

Prince Edward Island

SU Unrankable

Ranks looked up 2 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.

References

• Banta, A.M. 1907. The fauna of Mayfield's Cave. Carnegie Institution of Washington Publication 67: 1–114. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/60987. details
• Harker, D.F., Jr. & Barr, T.C., Jr. 1979. Caves and associated fauna of Eastern Kentucky, Volume 3. Kentucky Nature Preserves Commission, Frankfurt, Kentucky, USA. 130 pp.
• Harker, D.F., Jr. & Barr, T.C., Jr. 1980. Caves and associated fauna of the Western Kentucky coal field, Volume 2. Kentucky Nature Preserves Commission, Frankfurt, Kentucky, USA. 114 pp.
• 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.
• Lewis, J.J. & Lewis, S.L. 2005. Inventory of the subterranean fauna of Tims Ford State Park, Franklin County, Tennessee. Tennesee Natural Heritage Program, Nashville, Tennessee, USA. 28 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. 1995. The cave fauna of Alabama. Part II: The insects. National Speleological Society Bulletin 57: 1–19.
• 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.
• Peck, S.B. & Peck, J.H. 1982. Invertebrate fauna of Devils Den, a sandstone cave in northwestern Arkansas. Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science 36: 46–48.
• 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
• 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.

How to cite this account

Data sources and funding are listed in the Acknowledgments.

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