searchable PDF - Association for Mexican Cave Studies

the gryllid cricket Paracophus subapterus Chopard.Two species are temperate in their affinities: thecarabid beetle Rhadine araizai araizai (Bolivar) andthe leiodid beetle Ptomaphagus (Adelops) cavernicolacavernicola Schwarz.Sierra de Iguana, Nuevo Leon.-The Sierra deIguana is a north-south trending range formed of Cretaceouslimestone and located north of the highwayfrom Sabinas Hidalgo to Villaldama. The only cavethat has been investigated in this area is Cueva delDiablo, a dry horizontal cave inhabited by the batMormoops megalophylla megalophylla Peters. Theonly troglophile known is the pholcid spider Physocyclushoogstraali Gertsch and Davis.Sierra de Santa Clara, Nuevo Leon.-The Sierra deSanta Clara is a range of Cretaceous limestone locatedsouth of the Sierra de Iguana (Fuentes, 1964). Onlyone cave is known, Cueva de las Fisuras; this is aseries of dry, fissure-like passages in the northerncliffs. The only species identified from the cave is anundescribed genus and species of rhaphidophoridcricket.Sierra de la Silla, Nuevo Le&n.-The Sierra de laSilla is a mountain range located south-southwest ofMonterrey. The only cave which has been studied inthis region is Cueva de la Boca, at an elevation of 540meters. It is a large horizontal passage developed inthe Cupido Limestone and is now being mined forphosphates (Russell and Raines, 1967). A small mineadit, now partially flooded, located about 40 metersbelow Cueva de la Boca has also been studied.The mine adit was found to contain two species oftroglobitic isopods, the cirolanid Sphaerolana a/finisCole and Minckley and an undescribed species of thestenasellid genus Mexistenasellus. The former speciesis also known from springs and natural wells atCuatro Cienegas de Carranza, Coahuila. The genusMexistenasellus, also known from Cuatro Cienegas deCarranza, ranges into Veracruz. Two of the 32 terrestrialspecies recorded from Cueva de la Boca aretroglobites: the nesticid spider Nesticus nahuanusGertsch and the lithobiid centipede Nuevobiuscavicolens Chamberlin. Nesticus nahuanus is alsoknown from other nearby parts of Nuevo Leon. Thecentipede is of particular interest in that the onlyother species in the genus occurs in a cave in Tennesseein the United States.The troglophile fauna includes principally elementstypical of the Sierra Madre Oriental. Of noteare the pholcid spiders Metagonia placida Gertsch andModisimus rainesi Gertsch; the collem bolans Pseudosinellasp. and Acherontiella sabina Bonet; the carabidbeetle Platynus boneti (Bolivar and Hendrichs); andthe staphylinid beetle Stilicolina n. sp. The leiodidbeetle Ptomaphagus (Adelops) cavernicola aditusPeck is an endemic subspecies belonging to a speciesranging from the United States into Nuevo Leon. Theremaining fauna is closely associated with the guanoof Mexican freetail bats, Tadarida brasiliensis mexicana(Saussure), a large colony of which inhabits thecave.Sierra El Tarillal. Nuevo Leon.-The Sierra £1Tarillal is a range of Cretaceous limestone mountainslocated about 20 kilometers east of Arteaga. Thegeology of this region has been discussed by deCserna (1956). The only cave which has been investigatedis Cueva de las Vigas at an elevation of 2,300meters. This 100-meter-long cave has been muchmodified by mining activities. The fauna is typical ofthat of the northern Sierra Madre Oriental and includesfive species of troglophile: the agelenid spidersCicurina sp. and Tegenaria ?gertschi Roth, the pholcidspiders Coryssocnemis simoni O. P.-Cambridgeand Metagonia coahuila Gertsch, and undeterminedstaphylinid beetles.Zaragoza, Nuevo Leon.-This is an area of Jurassicgypsum deposits located along the western slopes ofthe Sierra Madre Oriental near the town of Zaragoza.Three species, two of which are troglophiles, areknown from the three small caves which have beenvisited. The troglophiles are ptilodactylid beetles ofthe genus Ptilodactyla and staphylinid beetles of thegenus Belonuchus.Purificacion. Nuevo Leon and Tamaulipas.-Thismajor karst region is located west of the town of £1Barretal. Caves are known from massive Cretaceouslimestone of the TamauJipas Formation at elevationsfrom 1,100 to 2,200 meters. Much of the drainage issubterranean with several caves receiving considerablefloodwater. Surface karst features include sinkholes,dolinas, pinnacles, and karren. Many of the caves aresmall single-room pits, but others are quite extensive.The two largest caves in the region are S6tano de lasCalenturas and Sistema Purificacion. The first receivesthe floodwater of a large arroyo and contains largeamounts of organic debris and a small active stream.Sistema Purificacion is a complex, multi-level cavewith several active streams. The cave is the longestin Mexico; more than 35 kilometers have been surveyedto date. It has a vertical range of almost 900meters, the highest entrance being at 1,980 metersand the lowest at 1,100 meters. Pate (1979) andTreacy (1979) have described several of the caves inthe region.About 100 species, of which 19 are troglobites,have been identified from the 33 caves which havebeen studied but much of the material remains undeterminedor undescribed. The aquatic fauna includes29