Arachnids of North Carolina
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Comments
Order:
Araneae - Spiders
Opiliones - Harvestmen
Pseudoscorpiones - Pseudoscorpions
Scorpiones - Scorpions
Scientific Name:
Common Name:
Family (Alpha):
ACROPSOPILIONIDAE-
AGELENIDAE-Funnel Weavers
AMAUROBIIDAE-Hacklemesh Weavers
ANTRODIAETIDAE-Folding Trapdoor Spiders
ANYPHAENIDAE-Ghost Spiders
ARANEIDAE-Orb Weavers
ATYPIDAE-Purseweb Spiders
BUTHIDAE-
CADDIDAE-
CHEIRACANTHIIDAE-
CHEIRIDIIDAE-
CHELIFERIDAE-
CHERNETIDAE-
CHTHONIIDAE-
CICURINIDAE-
CLUBIONIDAE-Sac Spiders
CORINNIDAE-Antmimics and Ground Sac Spiders
COSMETIDAE-Armoured harvestmen
CTENIDAE-Wandering Spiders
CYBAEIDAE-
DEINOPIDAE-Ogrefaced spider
DESIDAE-
DICTYNIDAE-Mesh Web Weavers
DYSDERIDAE-
EUCTENIZIDAE-Wafer-lid Trapdoor Spiders
FILISTATIDAE-
GARYPINIDAE-
GNAPHOSIDAE-Ground Spiders
HAHNIIDAE-
HALONOPROCTIDAE-
HYPOCHILIDAE-
LARCIDAE-
LEPTONETIDAE-
LINYPHIIDAE-Sheetweb and Dwarf Spiders
LIOCRANIDAE-Liocranid Sac Spiders
LYCOSIDAE-Wolf Spiders
MICROHEXURIDAE-
MIMETIDAE-Pirate spiders
MYSMENIDAE-
NEOBISIIDAE-
NEPHILIDAE-
NESTICIDAE-Scaffold Web Spiders
OECOBIIDAE-Wall spiders
OONOPIDAE-
OXYOPIDAE-Lynx Spiders
PHALANGIIDAE-
PHALANGODIDAE-Armoured harvestmen
PHILODROMIDAE-Running Crab Spiders
PHOLCIDAE-
PHONOGNATHIDAE-
PHRUROLITHIDAE-
PISAURIDAE-Nursery Web Spiders
SABACONIDAE-
SALTICIDAE-Jumping Spiders
SCLEROSOMATIDAE-
SCYTODIDAE-
SEGESTRIIDAE-
SICARIIDAE-
SPARASSIDAE-Giant Crab Spiders
STERNOPHORIDAE-
TARACIDAE-
TETRAGNATHIDAE-Long-jawed Orb Weavers
THERIDIIDAE-Cobweb Spiders
THERIDIOSOMATIDAE-Ray Spiders
THOMISIDAE-Crab Spiders
TITANOECIDAE-
TRACHELIDAE-
TRIAENONYCHIDAE-Armoured harvestmen
TRIDENCHTHONIIDAE-
ULOBORIDAE-Cribellate Orb Weavers
VAEJOVIDAE-
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Taracidae Members:
Crosbycus dasycnemus
Hesperonemastoma kepharti
NC
Records
Hesperonemastoma kepharti
(Crosby & Bishop, 1924) - No Common Name
Taxonomy
Order:
OPILIONES
Suborder:
Dyspnoi
Superfamily:
Ischryopsalidoidea
Family:
Taracidae
Comments:
One of six species in this genus that occur in North America north of Mexico (Cokendolpher and Lee, 1993; Shear, 2010). Four have been recorded in the East with only kepharti found in North Carolina.
Species Comment:
This species was described by Crosby and Bishop (1924) from specimens collected at Mt. Pisgah and Grandfather Mountain. Records from those sites are still the only specific ones listed, although Cokendolpher and Lee (1993) mention that this species has also been recorded in Mississippi and Tennessee (but without any definite locations mentioned).
Identification
Online Description/Photos:
BugGuide
Google
,
iNaturalist
,
Wikipedia
,
GBIF
Technical Description:
Crosby and Bishop (1924)
Comments:
A minute, blackish harvestman. The dorsal, sclerotized tergites are dark brown to nearly black, strongly contrasting with the non-sclerotized white membrane that connects them; this is particularly evident in the female where their more distended abdomens show more of the white connecting areas. The coxae are are very dark but the base of the femora are nearly white; the rest of the leg segments are brown (Crosby and Bishop, 1924).
Total Length:
1.2 mm, males; females are a little larger than the males (Crosby and Bishop, 1924)
Adult ID:
identifiable by photo
Structural Features:
The body is tuberculate and the palps and legs are covered with setae. The palps are long and slender and the second segment of the chelicerae has a rather long horn (see Crosby and Bishop, 1924, for illustrations and more detailed description).
Distribution in North Carolina
Comments:
There is currently too few records of this species to estimate its distribution within North Carolina. It is almost certainly confined to the mountains, but it has been found in forest habitats at elevations of 3,000-4,000' that are widespread in the western part of the state.
County Map:
Clicking on a county returns the records for the species in that county.
Adult phenology:
High Mountains (HM) ≥ 4,000 ft.
Low Mountains (LM) < 4,000 ft.
Piedmont (Pd)
Coastal Plain (CP)
Click on graph to enlarge
Habitats and Life History
Habitats:
Not recorded but probably mesic hardwoods and possibly either cove forests or northern hardwoods. Unlike other members of this genus, this species does not appear to be a cave-obligate.
See also Habitat Account for
General Montane Mesic Forests
Observation Methods:
Collected by sifting dead leaves banked against a decaying log (Crosby and Bishop, 1924)
Abundance/Frequency:
18 specimens were collected at the type locality at Mt. Pisgah, and three at Grandfather Mountain
Status in North Carolina
Natural Heritage Program Status:
[SR]
Natural Heritage Program Ranks:
[GNR] [S1S2]
State Protection:
Arachnids are not protected under state law, although permits are needed to collect them in State Parks and other public and private nature preserves
Comments:
This species is known in North Carolina only from the specimens collected by Crosby and Bishop in 1923. Several of our minute, litter-dwelling harvestmen in the Mountains appear to be highly dependent on moist, forest-floor conditions, making them vulnerable to the warming and drying effects of climate change, as well as other disturbances that open up the forest canopy. The massive timbering and wildfires that took place at the turn of the Twentieth Century is likely to have eliminated many populations, possibly permanently. More surveys are needed, however, to accurately assess the conservation needs of this species.
Photo Gallery for
Hesperonemastoma kepharti
- No common name
Photos: 4
Recorded by: Carol Tingley on 2023-08-05
Ashe Co.
Comment:
Recorded by: Carol Tingley on 2020-08-05
Avery Co.
Comment:
Recorded by: Carol Tingley on 2020-08-05
Avery Co.
Comment:
Recorded by: Carol Tingley on 2019-07-26
Transylvania Co.
Comment:
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