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

Common Pink Flat-Back
Pseudopolydesmus serratus (Say, 1821)

Taxonomy

Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Arthropoda
Subphylum Myriapoda
Class Diplopoda
Order Polydesmida
Family Polydesmidae
Genus Pseudopolydesmus
Species Pseudopolydesmus serratus (Say, 1821)

Description

Diagnostic characters

Ecological class
Trogloxene
Realm
Terrestrial

Distribution

Range

Known from six counties across four states.

Continent

North America

Country

United States

States and provinces

Alabama, Indiana, Pennsylvania, Tennessee

Counties

Alabama
Jackson
Indiana
Monroe
Pennsylvania
Berks
Tennessee
Blount, Jackson, Montgomery

Conservation and management

NatureServe

G5 Secure

G1G2G3G4G5▲

National ranks

United States
NNR
Canada
N5 Secure

Subnational ranks

Virginia
S5 Secure
South Carolina
SNR Unranked
Ontario
S5 Secure

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.
  • Hobbs, III., H.H. 1994. Assessment of the ecological resources of the caves of Russell Cave National Monument, Jackson County, Alabama and of selected caves at the Lookout Mountain Unit of Chickamauga-Chattanooga National Military Park, Dade County, Georgia and Hamilton County, Tennessee. 200 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.
  • Loomis, H.F. 1939. The millipeds collected in Appalachian caves by Mr. Kenneth Dearolf. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology 86: 165–193. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/2775893.
  • Mays, J.D. 2002. A systematic approach to sampling the arthropod assemblage of Gregorys Cave, Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Western Carolina University, Cullowhee, North Carolina, USA. 83 pp.
  • Peck, S.B. 1988. A review of the cave fauna of Canada, and the composition and ecology of the invertebrate fauna of caves and mines in Ontario. Canadian Journal of Zoology 66: 1197–1213. doi:10.1139/z88-176

How to cite this account

Pseudopolydesmus serratus (Say, 1821). Cave Biology Data Portal, account SP-1964. https://cavebiology.org/species/pseudopolydesmus-serratus/ (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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