Arachnids of North Carolina
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View THOMISIDAE Members: NC Records

Modysticus floridanus - a crab spider

Taxonomy
Order: ARANEAEInfraorder: ARANEOMORPHAEFamily: THOMISIDAE                                                                                 
Comments: Previously Ozyptila floridana
Identification
Online Description/Photos: BugGuide Google, iNaturalist, Wikipedia, GBIF
Comments: Male—Total length approximately 2 .5 mm. Carapace 1 .43 to 1 .49 mm wide (mean of three specimens 1 .46 mm). Median ocular quadrangle slightly longer than wide or equa l in length and width, slightly wider in front than behind. Carapace dark red-brown, with yellow eye tubercles and yellow streaks in pale median area ; lateral areas with small t o large red spots along side margins, and each lateral area broadly or narrowly divided b y irregular, longitudinal band that lies close to pale median area ; with clavate setae, thos e on front longest. Sternum yellow, speckled with red-brown or black . Legs red-brown t o orange-brown, the femora, patellae, and tibiae spotted with black and off-white ; coxae with one or more small black spots; femur I with four prolateral macrosetae, one or n o dorsal; tibia I with three pairs of ventral macrosetae (one pair terminal, sometimes reduced), one short dorsal; basitarsus I with three pairs of ventral macrosetae, one prolateral, one retrolateral. Abdomen widest behind middle ; dorsum red-brown, irregularly spotted with off-white and black ; venter red or yell,bw, with thin, transverse black lines . Tibia of palpus with hooked ventral apophysis and with lobe at base of retrolatera l apophysis (Figs. 3, 6). Tegulum without apophys'es; basal tegular ridge rather broad , raised on one margin and forming cup-like depression at centre of tegulum. Embolus broad and thin, truncate at tip . Female—Total length approximately 3 mm . Carapace 1 .34 to 2 .05 mm wide (mean of seven specimens 1 .63 mm). Median ocular quadrangle as in male. Coloration and macrosetation as in male . Epigynum with small hood remote from copulatory openings ; openings nearly surrounded by slend
Total Length: Female: ~3mm, Male: ~2.5
Distribution in North Carolina
Comments: Southeastern United States. FL, SC, TN, NC.
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)

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Habitats and Life History
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Status in North Carolina
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 Photo Gallery for Modysticus floridanus - a crab spider

Photos: 2

Recorded by: Carol Tingley on 2017-05-12
New Hanover Co.
Comment: 		Recorded by: Carol Tingley on 2017-05-12
New Hanover Co.
Comment: