Arachnids of North Carolina
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View THOMISIDAE Members: NC Records

Ozyptila distans - a crab spider

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Taxonomy
Order: ARANEAEInfraorder: ARANEOMORPHAEFamily: THOMISIDAE                                                                                 
Identification
Online Description/Photos: BugGuide Google, iNaturalist, Wikipedia, GBIF
Comments: Male—Total length approximately 3-3 .5 mm. Carapace L59 ± 0.12 mm wide (1 9 specimens). Carapace dark red-brown with yellow eye area and V-shaped mark at dorsal groove ; lateral areas divided by yellow longitudinal bands ; with mixture of tapered , untapered or clavate setae, those on front longest . Sternum yellow. Legs yellow-brown to red-brown, with ti of femur III and patellae and tibiae III and IV nearly black ; femur I swollen at middle on prolateral side, with two or three prolateral macrosetae, two to no dorsals; tibia I with two pairs of ventral macrosetae, one or two short dorsals ; basitarsus I with three pairs of ventral macrosetae, one or no prolateral, one or no retrolateral . Abdomen widest behind middle; dorsum red-brown with many small black bands or spots, se t with numerous clavate setae ; venter off-white or yellow, with thin, transverse black lines. Tibia of palpus with hooked ventral apophysis, intermediate apophysis closely unite d with the base of the ventral, and finger-like retrolateral apophysis (Figs. 19, 22); with membranous lobe between intermediate and retrolateral apophyses . Tegulum armed wit h ridge-like tooth near centre, and with low ridge near prolaterobasal margin ; basal tegular ridge broad, bearing one tooth. Embolus short, bent near tip . Female—Total length approximately 3 to 4 mm. Carapace 1 .58 ± 0.08 mm wide (21specimens). Coloration and macrosetation essentially as in male . Legs sometimes with off-white mottling . Epigynum with short hood and shallow atrium; with oblique sclerites at copulator y openings (Fig. 74). Spermathecae with anterior part short, posterior part bulbous (Figs . 75, 76)
Total Length: Male—Total length approximately 3-3 .5 mm, Female—Total length approximately 3 to 4 mm
Distribution in North Carolina
Comments: Wisconsin to Newfoundland, south along Appalachians to NC and TN
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
Habitats: Sphagnum bog, hazel swamp, old fields and pine litter.
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Status in North Carolina
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