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

Ptomaphagus shapardi Sanderson, 1939

Taxonomy

Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Arthropoda
Subphylum Hexapoda
Class Insecta
Order Coleoptera
Family Leiodidae
Genus Ptomaphagus
Species Ptomaphagus shapardi Sanderson, 1939

Description

Diagnostic characters

Ecological class
Troglophile
Realm
Terrestrial

Distribution

Range

Known from five counties across two states.

Continent

North America

Country

United States

States and provinces

Arkansas, Oklahoma

Counties

Arkansas
Independence, Washington
Oklahoma
Adair, Cherokee, LeFlore

Conservation and management

State and federal status

Not listed under the U.S. Endangered Species Act

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
  • Espinasa, L., Espinasa, M., Fenolio, D.B., Slay, M.E. & Niemiller, M.L. 2014. Distribution and conservation status of Speleonycta ozarkensis (Insecta, Zygentoma, Nicoletiidae) from caves of the Ozark Highlands of Arkansas and Oklahoma, USA. Subterranean Biology 14: 51–62. doi:10.3897/subtbiol.14.8275
  • Fenolio, D.B., Niemiller, M.L., Slay, M.E. & Carter, E.T. 2017. Biological inventories of caves in the Ozarks of northeastern Oklahoma: December 2017 field report. Report to Oklahoma Biological Survey. San Antonio Zoo, San Antonio, Texas, USA. 17 pp.
  • 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.
  • Nicholas, G. 1960. Checklist of macroscopic troglobitic organisms of the United States. The American Midland Naturalist 64: 123–160. doi:10.2307/2422897
  • Peck, S.B. 1973. 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.
  • 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.
  • Peck, S.B. 1982. New records of poorly known Ptomaphagus from Texas and the Ozarks (Coleoptera: Leiodidae: Cholevinae). The Coleopterists Bulletin 36: 109–111. https://www.jstor.org/stable/4007983.
  • 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

How to cite this account

Ptomaphagus shapardi Sanderson, 1939. Cave Biology Data Portal, account SP-2003. https://cavebiology.org/species/ptomaphagus-shapardi/ (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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