The species was first formally described by Brazilian lichenologist Lois Brako in her 1991 monograph on the genus Biatora.

The type specimen was collected in 1980 from Mato Grosso do Sul by Klaus Kalb, for whom the species in named.

[1] The thallus of Biatora kalbii is made of small round to elongated, convex green squamules (scales) measuring 0.1–0.3 mm in diameter.

Pycnidia are common on the lichen surface; they appear tan-coloured spots with orange to brown ostioles immersed in the thallus.

Brako's original description includes records from the United States, Dominican Republic, Brazil, Kenya, and Tanzania.