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

Ptomaphagus loedingi (Hatch, 1933)

Taxonomy

Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Arthropoda
Subphylum Hexapoda
Class Insecta
Order Coleoptera
Family Leiodidae
Genus Ptomaphagus
Species Ptomaphagus loedingi (Hatch, 1933)

Description

Diagnostic characters

Ecological class
Troglobiont
Realm
Terrestrial
Troglomorphy
Troglomorphic

Distribution

Type locality

Shelta Cave, Madison Co. AL

Range

Known from two counties in Alabama in the Interior Low Plateau karst region.

Continent

North America

Country

United States

States and provinces

Alabama

Counties

Alabama
Jackson, Madison

Karst regions

Interior Low Plateau

Specimens

Collections holding material

InstitutionLots
Museu de Ciencies Naturals de Barcelona 3
Lund University Biological Museum 1
Michigan State University 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

G1G2 Critically Imperiled to Imperiled

G1▲G2▲G3G4G5

Global rank last reviewed 1997.

Subnational ranks

Alabama
S1S2 Critically Imperiled to Imperiled

State and federal status

Not listed under the U.S. Endangered Species Act.

Other resources

Catalogue of Life
4Q9CY
GBIF
9268984
ITIS
933736

References

  • 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. 1966. Some comments on "troglobites of Alabama - the beetles". Huntsville Grotto Newsletter 7: 33–34.
  • Cooper, J.E. 1966. Preliminary observation on the biology of Shelta Cave, Alabama. Bulletin of the National Speleological Society 28: 96–97.
  • Cooper, J.E. 1968b. Shelta Cave, a biological marvel. National Speleological Society News 26: 33–35.
  • Cooper, J.E. 1975. Ecological and behavioral studies in Shelta Cave, Alabama, with emphasis on decapod crustaceans. University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky, USA. 364 pp.
  • Jones, W.B. & Varnedoe, W.W. 1968. Caves of Madison County, Alabama. Geological Survey of Alabama Circular 52: 1–177.
  • 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.
  • Nicholas, G. 1960. Checklist of macroscopic troglobitic organisms of the United States. The American Midland Naturalist 64: 123–160. doi:10.2307/2422897
  • Nicholas, G. 1966. Troglobites of Alabama - the beetles. Huntsville Grotto Newsletter 7: 29–32.
  • 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. 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. 1984. The distribution and evolution of cavernicolous Ptomaphagus beetles in the southeastern United States (Coleoptera; Leiodidae; Cholevinae) with new species and records. Canadian Journal of Zoology 62: 730–740. doi:10.1139/z84-103
  • Peck, S.B. 1995. The cave fauna of Alabama. Part II: The insects. National Speleological Society Bulletin 57: 1–19.
  • 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
  • Rheams, K.F., Moser, P.H. & McGregor, S.W. 1992. Geologic, hydrologic, and biologic investigations in Arrowwood, Bobcat, Matthews, and Shelta caves and selected caves, Madison, County, Alabama. Geological Survey of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA. 262 pp.

This account was last revised 28 August 2026.

How to cite this account

Ptomaphagus loedingi (Hatch, 1933). Cave Biology Data Portal, account SP-0848. https://cavebiology.org/species/ptomaphagus-loedingi/ (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.

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