Tennessee Cave Spider
Nesticus tennesseensis (Petrunkevitch, 1925)
Taxonomy
| Kingdom | Animalia |
|---|---|
| Phylum | Arthropoda |
| Subphylum | Chelicerata |
| Class | Arachnida |
| Order | Araneae |
| Family | Nesticidae |
| Genus | Nesticus |
| Species | Nesticus tennesseensis (Petrunkevitch, 1925) |
Synonyms
- Ivesia tennesseensis (prior combination, CoL)
- Yvesella tennesseensis (prior combination, CoL)
Description
Diagnostic characters
- Ecological class
- Troglobiont
- Realm
- Terrestrial
- Troglomorphy
- Troglomorphic
Distribution
Type locality
Indian Cave, Grainger Co. TN
Range
Known from 10 counties across three states in the Appalachians karst region.
Continent
North America
Country
United States
States and provinces
Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia
Counties
- Tennessee
- Grainger, Hawkins, Roane, Sullivan, Van Buren
- Virginia
- Alleghany, Craig, Giles, Smyth, Tazewell
Karst regions
Appalachians
Genetics
Molecular resources
| Marker | Molecule | Sequences | Length | Exemplar |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16S | mitochondrial | 9 | 563-584 bp | U40505.1 |
| COI | mitochondrial | 9 | 717-1071 bp | OQ095056.1 |
| 28S | nuclear | 3 | 419-423 bp | AF003820.1 |
| tRNA | mitochondrial | 3 | 387-387 bp | U40506.1 |
| other | unknown | 1 | 358-358 bp | KC769558.1 |
25 sequences, retrieved 23 August 2026. Counts change as sequences are deposited. Search GenBank.
Download all 25 sequence records (CSV) Accession, marker, molecule type, length, GenBank definition and a direct link.
Specimens
Collections holding material
| Institution | Lots |
|---|---|
| San Diego State University | 9 |
| National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution | 1 |
10 cataloged lots in 2 collections. Compiled from GBIF and not an exhaustive census: many collections are not yet digitised, and holdings are added continually. Search GBIF for specimen records.
Download all 10 specimen records (CSV) Institution, catalog number, type status and preparation. No coordinates.
Conservation and management
NatureServe
G3G4 Vulnerable to Apparently Secure
Global rank last reviewed 21 August 2002.
Subnational ranks
- Tennessee
- S2S4 Imperiled to Apparently Secure
- Virginia
- S3S4 Vulnerable to Apparently Secure
- West Virginia
- SU Unrankable
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
References
- Gertsch, W.J. 1984. The spider family Nesticidae (Araneae) in North America, Central America and the West Indies. Texas Memorial Museum Bulletin 31: 1–91.
- Hedin, M.C. 1997. Speciational history in a diverse clade of habitat-specialized spiders (Araneae: Nesticidae: Nesticus): inferences from geographic-based sampling. Evolution 51: 1929–1945. doi:10.1111/j.1558-5646.1997.tb05115.x
- 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.
- Nicholas, G. 1960. Checklist of macroscopic troglobitic organisms of the United States. The American Midland Naturalist 64: 123–160. doi:10.2307/2422897
- 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
- Petrunkevitch, A. 1925. Descriptions of new or inadequately known American spiders. Annals of the Entomological Society of America 18: 313–323. doi:10.1093/aesa/18.3.313
This account was last revised 28 August 2026. Conservation ranks were looked up 23 August 2026.
How to cite this account
Data sources and funding are listed in the Acknowledgments.
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