Texas Cave Life

Texas caves are the home to a number of different and interesting cave related species. Some of the species such as the Raccoon visit the cave from time to time, however, they largely live outside. Others such as the cave cricket live in the cave but come out at night to eat. The rare cave beetle, the Rhadine Persephone never leaves the cave.
Here are a few of the Texas cave creatures.

The photos identified by the asterisk * were taken by Piers Hendrie, Austin cave photographer.

Cave Life 1

Cave Cricket
Myotis Velifer Bat *
Texas Cave Conservancy Logo
Centipede *
Millipede *
Rhadine Persephone Beetle *
Class Insecta
Class Mammalia

Class Chilopoda
Class Diplopoda
Class Insecta

Cave Life 2

Spider *
Beetle *
Texas Rattlesnake
Bats *
Harvestman *
Class Arachnida
Class Insecta
Class Reptilia
Class Mammalia
Class Arachnida

Cave Life 3

Cave Crickets Mating *
Centipede *
Raccoon
Spider *
Anne Richardson Bridge
San Marcos Blind Salamander
Class Insecta
Class Chilopoda
Class Mammalia
Class Arachnida
Congress St. - Austin, TX
Class Amphibia


Texas Cave Critters

Austin Area Cave Related Endangered Species
Species
Texella reyesi
Texella reddelli
Tayshaneta myopica
Tartarocreagris texana
Texamaurops reddelli
Batrisodes texanus
Rhadine persephone
Bone Cave Harvestman (most common Austin area cave species)
Bee Creek Cave Harvestman
Tooth Cave Spider
Tooth Cave Pseudoscorpion
Kretschmarr Cave Mold Beetle
Coffin Cave Mold Beetle
Tooth Cave Ground Beetle


Mexican Fre-Tail Bat

Mexican Free-Tailed Bat (Tadarida Brasiliensis)
(Listen to its Sound)


Glossary

  • Biospeleology - The study of cave life and its relations to the surface and subsurface environment.
  • Borehole - In this work, a vertical hole drilled in bedrock for sampling karst fauna. Referred to as "corehole" in certain documents.
  • Cavernicole - A species occurring only in caves, not necessarily eyeless and depigmented.
  • Dark zone - The permanently dark zone of the deep cave environment where no light penetrates, as opposed to twilight zone.
  • Hydrogeology - The study of water dynamics in relation to geology, especially groundwater.
  • Karst - A terrain characterized by landforms and subsurface features such as caves and sinkholes.
  • Troglobite - An animal that completes its lifecycle and spends it entire life in caves.
  • Troglophile - An animal the spends most of its life in opening underground but it may also be found above ground.
  • Trogloxene - A cave-dwelling animal that leaves the cave on a regular basis to feed, such as bats and cave crickets.
  • Twilight Zone - The cave zone in which light from the entrance is still visible.
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