Kentucky Cave Beetle
Ptomaphagus hirtus (Tellkampf, 1844)
Taxonomy
| Kingdom | Animalia |
|---|---|
| Phylum | Arthropoda |
| Subphylum | Hexapoda |
| Class | Insecta |
| Order | Coleoptera |
| Family | Leiodidae |
| Genus | Ptomaphagus |
| Species | Ptomaphagus hirtus (Tellkampf, 1844) |
Synonyms
- Ptomaphagus nicholasi Barr, 1963 (subjective synonym, CoL)
Description
Diagnostic characters
- Ecological class
- Troglobiont
- Realm
- Terrestrial
- Troglomorphy
- Troglomorphic
Distribution
Type locality
Mammoth Cave, Edmonson Co. KY
Range
Known from seven counties in Kentucky in the Interior Low Plateau karst region.
Continent
North America
Country
United States
States and provinces
Kentucky
Counties
- Kentucky
- Barren, Christian, Edmonson, Green, Hardin, Hart, Warren
Karst regions
Interior Low Plateau
Specimens
Collections holding material
| Institution | Lots |
|---|---|
| Museu de Ciencies Naturals de Barcelona | 5 |
| Naturalis Biodiversity Center | 4 |
| KY | 2 |
| Lund University Biological Museum | 2 |
| Michigan State University | 1 |
14 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 14 specimen records (CSV) Institution, catalog number, type status and preparation. No coordinates.
Conservation and management
NatureServe
G4 Apparently Secure
Global rank last reviewed 2002.
Subnational ranks
- Kentucky
- S4 Apparently Secure
State and federal status
Not listed under the U.S. Endangered Species Act.
Other resources
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. 1962. The robustus group in the genus Pseudanophthalmus (Coleoptera: Carabidae: Trechini). The Coleopterists Bulletin 16: 109–118. https://www.jstor.org/stable/3998965. details
- 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
- 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.
- Harker, D.F., Jr. & Barr, T.C., Jr. 1980. Caves and associated fauna of the Western Kentucky coal field, Volume 2. Kentucky Nature Preserves Commission, Frankfurt, Kentucky, USA. 114 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.
- 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.
- Nicholas, G. 1960. Checklist of macroscopic troglobitic organisms of the United States. The American Midland Naturalist 64: 123–160. doi:10.2307/2422897
- Packard, A.S. 1871. The Mammoth Cave and its inhabitants. On the crustaceans and insects. American Naturalist 5: 739–761. https://www.jstor.org/stable/2447590. details
- Peck, S.B. 1973a. 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. details
- Peck, S.B. 1975a. The life cycle of a Kentucky cave beetle, Ptomaphagus hirtus, (Coleoptera; Leiodidae; Catopinae). International Journal of Speleology 7: 7–17. doi:10.5038/1827-806X.7.1.2
- Peck, S.B. 1983. Experimental hybridizations between populations of cavernicolous Ptomaphagus beetles (Coleoptera: Leiodidae: Cholevinae). The Canadian Entomologist 115: 445–452. doi:10.4039/Ent115445-5
- 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
- Tellkampf, T. 1844. Beschreibung einiger neuer in der Mammuth-Höhle in Kentucky aufgefundener Gattungen von Gliedertieren. Archiv für Naturgeschichte 10: 318–322. doi:10.5962/bhl.part.29561
- Tellkampf, T.A. 1845. Memoirs on the blind fishes and some other animals living in the Mammoth Cave in Kentucky. The New York Journal of Medicine and the Collateral Sciences 5: 84–93. https://www.google.com/books/edition/New_York_journal_of_medicine/rXEdAQAAMAAJ?hl=en. details
This account was last revised 28 August 2026.
How to cite this account
Ptomaphagus hirtus (Tellkampf, 1844). Cave Biology Data Portal, account SP-0843. https://cavebiology.org/species/ptomaphagus-hirtus/ (accessed 19 October 2026).
Data sources and funding are listed in the Acknowledgments.
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