Terrestrial arthropods from caves and other subterranean habitats in the Canary Islands

Study Extent

The study covers all caves and subterranean habitats of the seven main islands of the archipelago of the Canary Islands: Lanzarote, Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria, Tenerife, La Gomera, La Palma, and El Hierro. Any organisms living in caves and other subterranean habitats were recorded from visual census and specific collections with traps, baits, and sieves.

Sampling

The dataset relies on material collected over the last 40 years by the zoologists of the University of La Laguna and collaborators using all possible sampling tools and methods. These include mostly, but not only, visual collections during caving and traps.

Quality Control

Taxonomic identification was performed and crosschecked by the zoologists of the University of La Laguna and by their collaborators. Taxonomic identifications were always performed comparing original descriptions and more recent reviews on the specific taxonomic groups. Georeferenced data were checked by plotting coordinates on a map.

Method steps

1. All data recorded and/or collected and stored by the zoologists of the University of La Laguna and by their collaborators in the 40 years from the beginning of the 1980s to the beginning of the 2020s have been gathered in this dataset.

1. Dysderidae
   rank: family
2. Syarinidae
   rank: family
3. Armadillidae
   rank: family
4. Nicoletiidae
   rank: family
5. Arthropoda
   rank: phylum
6. Nesticidae
   rank: family
7. Pygidicranidae
   rank: family
8. Insecta
   rank: class
9. Diplopoda
   rank: class
10. Campodeidae
    rank: family
11. Ectobiidae
    rank: family
12. Meenoplidae
    rank: family
13. Jacobsoniidae
    rank: family
14. Liocranidae
    rank: family
15. Ceratocombidae
    rank: family
16. Pholcidae
    rank: family
17. Histeridae
    rank: family
18. Chthoniidae
    rank: family
19. Animalia
    rank: kingdom
20. Talitridae
    rank: family
21. Symphytognathidae
    rank: family
22. Chilopoda
    rank: class
23. Carabidae
    rank: family
24. Phalangodidae
    rank: family
25. Linyphiidae
    rank: family
26. Cixiidae
    rank: family
27. Cryptopidae
    rank: family
28. Porcellionidae
    rank: family
29. Lithobiidae
    rank: family
30. Nemasomatidae
    rank: family
31. Glomeridae
    rank: family
32. Curculionidae
    rank: family
33. Halophilosciidae
    rank: family
34. Reduviidae
    rank: family
35. Malacostraca
    rank: class
36. Tenebrionidae
    rank: family
37. Julidae
    rank: family
38. Staphylinidae
    rank: family
39. Lepismatidae
    rank: family
40. Arachnida
    rank: class

Canary Islands, Spain