Spiders of North Carolina

Order:
Scientific Name: Common Name:		Family (Alpha):

View	Agelenidae Members:	NC Records
Wadotes tennesseensis - a funnel weaver

No image for this species.

Taxonomy

Order: ARANEAE	Infraorder: Araneomorphae	Family: Agelenidae
Species Comment: Wadotes calcaratus, W. hybridus, W. dixiensis, and W. bimucronatus are all possibly sympatric with W. tennesseensis, but W. dixiensis and W. bimucronatus have been collected only from lower elevations than has W. tennesseensis. Specimens of W. calcaratus and W. tennesseensis were found in the same sample of hardwood leaf litter. Wadotes tennesseensis may be the sole Wadotes found in the southern spruce / fir forest stands within its range . Although both W. calcaratus and W. hybridus are characteristically northern species, the latter has not been found at the highe r elevations of the southern Appalachians and the former, although collected fro m nearby spruce/fir forests, such as at Mount Mitchell, North Carolina, has not been discovered in this habitat within the range of W. tennesseensis. Populations in the vicinity of Kingston, Tennessee and Highlands, Nort h Carolina (only one specimen is known from each locale) are possibly disjunct from the apparently contiguous populations in the Great Smoky, Plott Balsa m and Pisgah Mountains . If the former populations are peripheral isolates, this could indicate that this species has had a larger range in the past . Its range may have been shrinking since the last glacial maximum . The present rapid destructio n of spruce/fir habitat throughout the Southern Appalachians may hasten thi s process and significantly reduce the already restricted range of this species.

Identification

Online Description/Photos:

BugGuide Google, iNaturalist, Wikipedia, GBIF

Structural photos

1987 Bennett

Distribution in North Carolina

Comments: Wadotes tennesseensis is most common in the high elevation oak and spruce/fir forests within its range but is also present in th e lower elevation mixed hardwood forests down to about 900 m above sea level .
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: forest; under litter and logs on forest floor

Observation Methods:

Abundance/Frequency: Overwintering females have been collected from small diapause chambers, no t much larger than themselves, which they have constructed in rotting wood unde r the bark of fir logs. In the spring females construct single egg cases in thes e cavities and remain with them at least until the young emerge .

Status in North Carolina

Natural Heritage Program Status:

Natural Heritage Program Ranks:

State Protection:

Comments:

Wadotes tennesseensis - a funnel weaver