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

Megaselia cavernicola (Brues, 1906)

Taxonomy

Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Arthropoda
Subphylum Hexapoda
Class Insecta
Order Diptera
Family Phoridae
Genus Megaselia
Species Megaselia cavernicola (Brues, 1906)

Description

Diagnostic characters

Ecological class
Troglophile
Realm
Terrestrial

Distribution

Range

Known from 39 counties across seven states.

Continent

North America

Country

United States

States and provinces

Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee

Counties

Alabama
Conecuh, Jackson, Madison, Marshall
Arkansas
Independence
Georgia
Chattooga, Dade, Gordon, Polk, Walker
Iowa
Jackson
Illinois
Adams, Calhoun, Carroll, Hardin, Johnson, Monroe, Union
Kentucky
Edmonson, Pulaski
Tennessee
Blount, Clay, Coffee, Cumberland, Fentress, Franklin, Grundy, Jackson, Marion, Montgomery, Overton, Pickett, Rhea, Rutherford, Sequatchie, Stewart, Van Buren, Warren, White

Conservation and management

NatureServe

GNR Unranked

G1G2G3G4G5

National ranks

United States
NNR

Subnational ranks

Illinois
SNR Unranked
Indiana
S5 Secure
Alabama
S2 Imperiled

State and federal status

Not listed under the U.S. Endangered Species Act

References

  • Bailey, V. 1933. Cave Life of Kentucky. US Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Biological Survey, Washington, DC, USA. 256 pp.
  • Barr, T.C., Jr. & Kuehne, R.A. 1971. Ecological studies in the Mammoth Cave system of Kentucky. II. The Ecosystem. Annales de Speleologie 26: 47–96. doi:10.5038/1827-806X.3.1.10
  • Giovannoli, L. 1933. Invertebrate life of Mammoth and other neighboring caves. In: Bailey, V. (ed), Cave Life of Kentucky, pp. 600–623.
  • Lewis, J.J. 2004. Interstate 66 karst faunal study. Environmental Impact Statement. 17 pp.
  • Lewis, J.J. 2005. 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.
  • 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.
  • McDaniel, V.R. & Smith, K.L. 1976. Cave fauna of Arkansas: selected invertebrate taxa. Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science 30: 57–60. https://scholarworks.uark.edu/jaas/vol30/iss1/22.
  • 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. & Christiansen, K. 1990. Evolution and zoogeography of the invertebrate cave faunas of the Driftless Area of the upper Mississippi River Valley of Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Illinois, U.S.A. Canadian Journal of Zoology 68: 73–88. doi:10.1139/z90-012
  • Peck, S.B. 1995. The cave fauna of Alabama. Part II: The insects. National Speleological Society Bulletin 57: 1–19.
  • Reeves, W.K., Jensen, J.B. & Ozier, J.C. 2000. New faunal and fungal records from caves in Georgia, USA. Journal of Cave and Karst Studies 62: 169–179. https://caves.org/wp-content/uploads/Publications/JCKS/v62/v62n3-Reeves.pdf.
  • 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.
  • 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

Megaselia cavernicola (Brues, 1906). Cave Biology Data Portal, account SP-2625. https://cavebiology.org/species/megaselia-cavernicola/ (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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