Despite the huge amount of caves that have never been scientifically explored in Brazilian territory, the knowledge of the country's troglofauna is considerable and Brazil has been establishing itself with a remarkable diversity, probably the 5th largest in the world outside Europe (after the USA, Australia, China and Mexico). For South American neighbors, the situation is quite different. There is very little information about the troglofauna of these countries, in general very fragmented and imprecise.
In light of this problem, we present here an overview of all the citations of cave animlas from the countries of South America except Brazil, Venezuela, Colombia and Peru present in White & Culver (Enciclopedia of Caves, 2019, 3th edition), with eventual notes for other sources. The text is organized by taxonomic group and has not been revised by other sources, with the information provided only slightly adapted for consistency in writing. The text was revised to exclude any citation that, in quick analysis, does not refer to troglobionts.
BY COMUNITIES
Sporadic sampling of microcrustaceans in caves and other subterranean habitats of continental Argentina and Chile, revealed a diversified yet poorly known fauna of copepods harpacticoids (e.g., Parastenocaris, Stygonitocrella, and Elaphoidella) and cyclopoids (e.g., Hesperocyclops, Paracyclops, and Tropocyclops), ostracods, syncarids Bathynellidae, Parabathynellidae, and Stygocarididae, amphipods (ingolfiellids) and isopods (protojanirids in Argentina), besides hydracarians.
BY GROUP
AMPHIPODA ‣ troglobitic Bogidiella species are known from Ecuador, and the hypogean Patagongidiella and Grossogidiella are syntopic in Argentina, all xclusively subterranean.
DIPLURA ‣ among Campodeidae diplurans, Lepidocampa has been recorded in French Guyana (troglobitic species).
COLLEMBOLA ‣ cave-restricted genus Troglospinotheca (Spinothecidae) from Argentina is monospecific with single troglobiotic species known to date. Other troglobitic species occur in Ecuador (Oncopodura, Trogolaphysa).
COLEOPTERA ‣ among detritivorous/scavenging beetles, cholevids (e.g., Dissochaetus, Adelopsis) have been found in caves all over South America, from Argentina (Ptomophagus, locally) and Chile (Eupelates, locally), besides hydrophilids (Troglochares, troglobite in Ecuador), elaterids, scarabaeids, curculionids, among others. Outside subtropical China, troglomorphic beetles are exceptionally encountered in lowland of tropical regions but regularly found in highland caves, such as Mayaphaenops sbordonii at 3000m in Guatemala.
ORTHOPTERA ‣ Rhaphidophorids (camel crickets), cave crickets in the Northern Hemisphere, have their ecological equivalents in Chilean temperate caves.
ZYGENTOMA ‣ instances of relicts, either phylogenetic or geographic include the silverfish P. spelaeus, from semiarid areas in Argentinian Patagonia.
HEMIPTERA ‣ fulgoromorph homopterans (planthoppers), such as cixiids, are plant feeders usually associated with roots in superficial caves; troglobitic species in this group have been found in Argentina.
ACARI ‣ Hygrobatidae contains numerous species recorded from subterranean waters. Among the more important genera in South America are Atractides, also in Europe, and Asia; Australiobates, Callumobates, Camposea, and Decussobates from Chile; Corticacarus in over continent. Hydryphantidae is an abundant family in underground waters, with a large number of described species. Genera containing subterranean species in South America include Clathrosperchon; Euwandesia from Chile and New Zealand. The only troglobite in Microstigmatidae is Spelocteniza ashmolei Gertsch from Ecuador.
ARANEAE ‣ Pholcidae is well represented in caves, especially in the New World tropics. Troglobitic species of Metagonia and Aymaria have been described from caves in Galapagos Islands. Other genera containing cave-associated species include Physocyclus in Uruguay, Modisimus in French Guyana, Spermophora in Argentina. Cave mygalomorphs are frequent in tropical caves; they include the large theraphosids (tarantulas) recorded in Argentina; and a microstimatid (formerly in Dipluridae; Speleocteniza from Ecuador). The primitive araneomorph (true) spider Hickmania troglodytes from Tasmania is a troglophilic member of Austrochilidae, a family that also occurs in Chile and Argentina. Several other araneomorph families, mostly comprising small ground spiders, have troglomorphic representatives in South America, for instance: Hahniidae (Chile). Oonopidae includes several cave-associated species, including several troglobites, as Gamasomorpha in Ecuador and Ceylon.
OPILIONES ‣ triaenonychids were reported for Chile, Argentina, with troglobitic genera containing troglobites include Picunchenops in Argentina. Picunchenops spelaeus should be a distribution relict in the Argentinian Patagonia, since harvestmen are hygrophilous, low vagile, nocturnal, and cryptobiotic, hence the semiarid epigean environment would hamper surface dispersion. Genera containing troglophiles or trogloxenes include Pachyloides from Uruguay.
PSEUDOSCORPIONA ‣ Syarinidae contains cave-associated species in the caves of Europe, North America, South America (Ideobisium in Ecuador), and the West Indies.
SCORPIONIDA ‣ troglobitic species include Troglotayosicus vachoni, from Ecuador.
SCHIZOMIDA ‣ a large number of species of Hubbardiidae have been recorded from caves, but unquestioned troglobites are known only from caves in Cuba, Jamaica, Belize, Mexico, California (USA), Ecuador (Tayos ashmolei), and Australia.
PALPIGRADA ‣ among palpigrads, several Eukoenenia species have been reported as troglobites in French Guyana.
ACTINOPTERIGY ‣ in South America except Brazil all but two species are siluriforms (catfishes), most pertaining to the Trichomycteridae and Heptapteridae. Most trichomycterids belong to the genus Trichomycterus, with troglobitic representatives with troglobitic representatives in Bolivia (at least one), followed by Silvinichthys (Argentina). Troglobitic heptapterids belong to the genera Rhamdia (1 in Ecuador, from caves in the Napo Province). Other siluriform families with troglobites in region are Astroblepidae (Ecuador). Cave-adapted members of the catfish genus Astroblepus in Ecuador possess a unique adaptation to detect changes in water flow.
BY LOCATION
FRENCH GUIANA ‣ cited here: Lepidocampa (Diplura), Eukoenenia (Palpigrada), Modisimus (Araneae).
ECUADOR ‣ cited here: Ideobisium (Syarinidae/Pseudoscorpiona), Troglotayosicus vachoni (Scorpionida), Tayos ashmolei (Schizomida), Metagonia, Aymaria (Araneae, in Galapagos), Gamasomorpha (Araneae, Oonopidae), Spelocteniza ashmolei (Microstigmatidae), Bogidiella (Amphipoda), Oncopodura, Trogolaphysa (Collembola), Troglochares (Coleoptera), Rhamdia (Actinopterigy/Heptapteridae), Astroblepus (Actinopterigy/Astroblepidae). Likewise, the troglophilic and guanophilic fauna of Los Tayos cave in Ecuador included ca. 100 species of earthworms, isopods, chilopods, opiliones, diplopods (11 families), spiders (about 20 families), and 11 insect orders, mainly coleopterans and dipterans.
BOLIVIA ‣ cited here: Trichomycteridae (Actinopterigy). Other sources: the only citation found for troglobias in Bolivia was a sampling in the Umajalanta cave (Furtado et al., International Journal of Speleology, 2022), 11 troglobia species were cited for it: Trichomycterus chaberti, Coleoptera (3, one described, Escolatrechus bolivianus), Acari/Rhagidiidae (1), Collembola/Entomobryomorpha (1), and Dubioniscidae (1).
ARGENTINA ‣ cited here: Spermophora, large theraphosids (Araneae), Picunchenops (Opiliona/Triaenonychid), fulgoromorph homopterans (planthoppers), such as cixiids; Ptomophagus (Coleoptera); P. spelaeus (Zygentoma); Troglospinotheca (Spinothecidae/Collembola); Silvinichthys (Actinopterigy).
CHILE ‣ cited here: Rhaphidophorids (Orthoptera), Hahniidae (Araneae), Australiobates, Callumobates, Camposea, Decussobates (Acari/Hygrobatidae), Clathrosperchon, Euwandesia (Hydryphantidae), Eupelates (Coleoptera).
URUGUAY ‣ cited here: Physocyclus (Araneae), Pachyloides (Opiliona).