Arachnids of North Carolina
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Scientific Name: Common Name: Family (Alpha):
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Acropsopilio boopis - No Common Name     Sole representative of ACROPSOPILIONIDAE in NC NC Records BugGuide Account Public View
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Distribution Records
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Vetting Levels
Adult phenology:
 High Mountains (HM) ≥ 4,000 ft.
 Low Mountains (LM) < 4,000 ft.
 Piedmont (Pd)
 Coastal Plain (CP)

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synonym
taxonomic_comments The only member of this genus that occurs in North America north of Mexico (Shear, 1975a; Cokendolpher and Lee, 1993)
species_comment
id_comments A minute Harvestman with exceptionally large eyes. As in Caddo agilis, the ocular tubercle takes up virtually the entire dorsal area of the cephalothorax. Caddo, however, is much larger and has a distinctive pale dorsal stripe. In boopis, the dorsal surface is of the cephalothorax is off-white and the rest of the body is medium brown and unmarked (Shear, 1975a). The pedipalps and legs are dark brown.
total_length 0.91 mm (Shear, 1975a)
structural_features Males appear to be unknown and the species is believed to be parthenogenic (Shear, 1975a)
silk_web
fld_guide_descriptions
online_photos
prey
predators
behavior
distribution_reference A specimen collected by Lee Reynolds and identified by J. Schultz (Schultz, 2013) is the only one recorded so far in North Carolina
technical_reference Shear (1975a)
adult_id 1 identifiable by photo 2 identifiable by photo of specific features and/or supplementary info 3 identifiable from specimen only
abundance Only known from a single specimen in North Carolina
distribution_comments Our sole record comes from the Nantahala Mountains. All other specimens appear to come from formerly glaciated regions in the North, from New England and southern Canada to the Great Lakes region (Shultz, 2013). As noted by Shultz, it seems likely that this species will turn out to be more widely distributed in the Southern Appalachians.
checklist_mt_high
>=4,000 ft.
Regular
Frequent
Infrequent
Occasional
Seldom
Frequency
checklist_mt_low
<4,000 ft.
Regular
Frequent
Infrequent
Occasional
Seldom
checklist_pd
Piedmont
Regular
Frequent
Infrequent
Occasional
Seldom
checklist_cp
Coastal Plain
Regular
Frequent
Infrequent
Occasional
Seldom
habitat Shear (195a) noted that most records for this species come the vicinity of lakes and streams. No habitat information is given for the North Carolina specimen (the coordinates given on the specimen label plot on a ridgetop).
observation_methods Collected by sifting or the use of Berelese funnels (Shear, 1975a)
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
NHP_ranks [GNR] [SU]
NHP_status [W3]
status_comments This species was only recently discovered in North Carolina and known from just single specimen collected at a site located ~317 miles south from the next nearest population. Too little is currently known about the distribution, habitat associations, and population trends to estimate its conservation needs in North Carolina. As in our other species of minute, litter-dwelling Harvestmen, it may be vulnerable to the warming and drying impacts of climate change as well as to environmental disturbances that open up the forest canopy.