Arachnids of North Carolina
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View LEPTONETIDAE Members: NC Records

Appaleptoneta coma - a cave spider


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Taxonomy
Order: ARANEAEInfraorder: ARANEOMORPHAEFamily: LEPTONETIDAE                                                                                 
Identification
Online Description/Photos: BugGuide Google, iNaturalist, Wikipedia, GBIF
Comments: The color and general conformation is like the species silvicultrix and gertschi but the males can be easily distinguished by the palp and its peculiar specialized hairs and spines. The tarsus of the palp is deeply cleft at the distal end forming an upper and lower lobe. Seen from the outside the lower lobe is nearly as large as the upper but bears on its lower side a secondary lobe or knob (Fig. 3) which bears a small black flattened spine set in a pit. The upper lobe has the usual long hairs of which four stand out as being heavier than the others. The middle lobe bears on its upper edge a long delicate hair below which are several short hairs, the lower one plumose. Proximal to the constriction in the tarsus is the usual series of spines one of which is flattened slightly. The most distinctive feature of the palp is a series of eight extremely long hairs which arise along a vertical line on the middle of the inside of the bulb and extend forward side by side beyond the middle lobe of the tarsus. These are white at the tips. The tips of four are shown in the figure. The specific name refers to this wisp of long hairs.
Total Length: Male.—Length 1.52 mm.
Distribution in North Carolina
Comments:
County Map: Clicking on a county returns the records for the species in that county.
Appaleptoneta coma
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
Habitats: Sifting leaves by rivers near Gatlinburg
Observation Methods:
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Status in North Carolina
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