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

Liocranoides unicolor Keyserling, 1881

Taxonomy

Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Arthropoda
Subphylum Chelicerata
Class Arachnida
Order Araneae
Family Tengellidae
Genus Liocranoides
Species Liocranoides unicolor Keyserling, 1881

Description

Diagnostic characters

Ecological class
Troglobiont
Realm
Terrestrial
Troglomorphy
Troglomorphic

Distribution

Type locality

Mammoth Cave, Edmonson Co. KY

Range

Known from 20 counties across four states across two karst regions.

Continent

North America

Country

United States

States and provinces

Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Tennessee

Counties

Alabama
Blount, Calhoun, Colbert, DeKalb, Jackson, Jefferson, Limestone, Madison, Marshall, Morgan
Georgia
Chattooga, Dade, Walker
Kentucky
Edmonson, Jackson, Pulaski
Tennessee
Davidson, DeKalb, Sevier, Smith

Karst regions

Appalachians, Interior Low Plateau

Specimens

Type material

Holotype
23399 · Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard

Collections holding material

InstitutionLots
Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard 2
National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution 2
University of New Mexico 1

5 cataloged lots in 3 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 5 specimen records (CSV) Institution, catalog number, type status and preparation. No coordinates.

Conservation and management

NatureServe

GU Unrankable

G1G2G3G4G5

Global rank last reviewed 11 December 2020.

Subnational ranks

Alabama
SNR Unranked
Kentucky
SNR Unranked
Tennessee
SNR Unranked

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

Catalogue of Life
3V5JC
GBIF
2143586
ITIS
882458
iNaturalist
223877

References

  • Godwin, J.C. 2008. Biological inventory of the cave and karst systems of The Nature Conservancy's Sharp-Bingham Mountain Preserve. Alabama Natural Heritage Program, Auburn, Alabama, USA. 40 pp.
  • 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.
  • Niemiller, M.L., Anderson, C.L., Maxwell, E.C., Midgette, H., Quering, C., Richards, M., Wilson, K. & Wirwa, N. 2025b. A noteworthy range extension of the federally endangered Alabama Cave Shrimp (Palaemonias alabamae) south of the Tennessee River in northern Alabama. Southeastern Naturalist 24: N47-N58. doi:10.1656/058.024.0403
  • Niemiller, M.L., Slay, M.E., Inebnit, T., Miller, B., Tobin, B., Cramphorn, B., Hinkle, A., Jones, B.D., Mann, N. & Niemiller, K.D.K. 2023a. Fern Cave: a hotspot of subterranean biodiversity in the Interior Low Plateau karst region of Alabama in the southeastern United States. Diversity 15: 633. doi:10.3390/d15050633
  • 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
  • Peck, S.B. 1989. The cave fauna of Alabama. Part I. The terrestrial invertebrates (excluding insects). National Speleological Society Bulletin 51: 11–33.
  • Platnick, N.I. 1999. A revision of the Appalachian spider genus Liocranoides (Araneae: Tengellidae). American Museum Novitates 3285: 1–13. https://digitallibrary.amnh.org/bitstreams/63d50620–233c-4d23-aad6–869d8222f0cf/download. details
  • Yancey, M.E., Mann, N.C., Milne, M.A. & Zigler, K.S. 2018. Eggs sacs of Liocranoides Keyserling, 1881 (Araneae: Zoropsidae) cave spiders. The Journal of Arachnology 46: 553–555. https://www.jstor.org/stable/26758314. details
  • 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

This account was last revised 28 August 2026. Conservation ranks were looked up 23 August 2026.

How to cite this account

Liocranoides unicolor Keyserling, 1881. Cave Biology Data Portal, account SP-0160. https://cavebiology.org/species/liocranoides-unicolor/ (accessed 18 October 2026).
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Data sources and funding are listed in the Acknowledgments.

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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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