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Subterranean biodiversity of North America and around the globe

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

Subterranean Sheetweb Spider
Phanetta subterranea (Emerton, 1875)

Taxonomy

Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Arthropoda
Subphylum Chelicerata
Class Arachnida
Order Araneae
Family Linyphiidae
Genus Phanetta
Species Phanetta subterranea (Emerton, 1875)

Description

Diagnostic characters

Ecological class
Troglobiont
Realm
Terrestrial
Troglomorphy
Troglomorphic

Distribution

Type locality

Wyandotte Cave, Crawford Co. IN

Range

Known from 12 states across four karst regions.

Continent

North America

Country

United States

States and provinces

Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia

Counties

County-level records have not been compiled for this taxon. Distribution is recorded at state and karst-region level.

Karst regions

Appalachians, Interior Low Plateau, Other, Ozarks

Genetics

Molecular resources

MarkerMoleculeSequences LengthExemplar
COI mitochondrial 47 651-651 bp PP815923.1

47 sequences, retrieved 23 August 2026. Counts change as sequences are deposited. Search GenBank.

Download all 47 sequence records (CSV) Accession, marker, molecule type, length, GenBank definition and a direct link.

Specimens

Collections holding material

InstitutionLots
Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard 5
Field Museum of Natural History 1
Illinois Natural History Survey 1
National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution 1
University of New Mexico 1

9 cataloged lots in 5 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 9 specimen records (CSV) Institution, catalog number, type status and preparation. No coordinates.

Conservation and management

NatureServe

G5 Secure

G1G2G3G4G5▲

Global rank last reviewed 21 August 2002.

Subnational ranks

Alabama
SNR Unranked
Kentucky
S$
Missouri
S1 Critically Imperiled
Pennsylvania
SNR Unranked
Tennessee
S4 Apparently Secure
Virginia
S4 Apparently Secure
West Virginia
S3 Vulnerable
Georgia
SNR Unranked
Illinois
SNR Unranked
Indiana
S5 Secure

State and federal status

Not listed under the U.S. Endangered Species Act

Other resources

Catalogue of Life
4FTTQ
GBIF
2136252
ITIS
864906
iNaturalist
153701
NCBI Taxonomy
3153309

How to cite this account

Phanetta subterranea (Emerton, 1875). Cave Biology Data Portal, account SP-0131. https://cavebiology.org/species/phanetta-subterranea/ (accessed 3 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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