Spiders of North Carolina

Arachnids of North Carolina

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

Leiobunum nigropalpi - No Common Name Sclerosomatidae Members:			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)

Click on graph to enlarge

synonym

taxonomic_comments

Approximately 30 species in this genus have been identified as occurring in North America north of Mexico (Cokendolpher and Lee, 1993; Ingianni et al., 2011), with 16 recorded in North Carolina. However, the validity of several of these species is suspect, with several that will probably be determined to be synonyms of other species, e.g., davisi, speciosum, and zimmermani in North Carolina Burns et al., 2012; Shultz, 2018). According to Shultz (2018), moreover, recent phylogenetic studies indicate both that more species are waiting to be described and that the name Leiobunum may eventually be restricted to European species, requiring new generic names for most, if not all, of our species.

species_comment

Belongs to the Leiobnum Calcar Species Group as described by Ingianni et al. (2011), based on both male and female reproductive structures; further confirmed by genetic analysis (Burns et al., 2012). Other North Carolina species in this group include calcar, euserratipalpe, and hoffmani.

id_comments

Males are golden-yellow to light red-brown; the saddle on the abdomen is indistinct to nearly absent (Davis, 1934). Trochanters are black and strongly conrast with the reddish-brown coxae. The femurs of the legs are also dark brown to black; the remainder of the leg segments may be either all dark or light (Davis, 1934); palps are also dark brown to black except at the base and tarsus, which are yelowish. Females are dark brown above, mottled with light brown; the central figure is distinct. Legs have dark trochanters and femurs, similar to the males; palps are marked with dark brown (Davis, 1934).

total_length

6 mm, males; 7 mm, females (Davis, 1934)

structural_features

The palps of the males are not swollen as they are in calcar or hoffmani. The palpal femurs also lack a retrolateral apophysis found in those two species and a row of retrolateral denticles runs down from the apex more than 1/3 of the length of the femur, whereas these denticles are confined to the apical third in calcar and hoffmani. The black color over most of the palps in both sexes distinguishes them from euserratipalpi, whose palps are light brown (Ingianni et al., 2011).

silk_web

fld_guide_descriptions

online_photos

BugGuide, the Harvestmen of Maryland

prey

predators

behavior

distribution_reference

Brimley (1938)

technical_reference

Davis (1939); Ingianni et al. (2011)

adult_id

1 identifiable by photo 2 identifiable by photo of specific features and/or supplementary info 3 identifiable from specimen only

abundance

distribution_comments

Probably occurs over most of the Piedmont and Mountains

checklist_mt_high
>=4,000 ft.

Regular	Frequent	Infrequent	Occasional	Seldom	Frequency Regular – almost always observed on given visit; >=90% chance of observation Frequent – usually observed on a given visit; >=50%<90% chance of observation Infrequent – observed less than 50% of visits; >=25%<50% chance of observation Occasional – observed on only on a small minority of visits; >=10%<25% chance of observation Seldom – not usually seen on visits; <10% chance of observation These terms refer to visits to appropriate habitats made at appropriate times of the year, making use of common sampling/observation methods. Under those conditions, Frequency refers to the chance of observing at least one individual on a given visit made anywhere within a particular region, or over multiple visits to a single site.

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

Widespread in Eastern forests (Shultz, 2018)

observation_methods

This species is diurnally active and is found on the surface of the ground or up on tree trunks (Shultz, 2018)

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] [S4S5]

NHP_status

status_comments

Although we do not yet have enough records to be certain, this species will probably turn out to be found in hardwood forests throughout most of the state.

Photo Gallery for Leiobunum nigropalpi No common name
	Recorded by: Mark Basinger and Jim Petranka Mitchell Co. Comment:	Recorded by: Mark Basinger and Jim Petranka Mitchell Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: Mark Basinger, Jim Petranka, and Becky Elkin Mitchell Co. Comment: Common Shiny black legs, brick red body, black palps and chelicerae.	Recorded by: Mark Basinger, Jim Petranka, and Becky Elkin Mitchell Co. Comment: Common Shiny black legs, brick red body, black palps and chelicerae.
	Recorded by: Mark Basinger, Jim Petranka, and Becky Elkin Mitchell Co. Comment: Common Shiny black legs, brick red body, black palps and chelicerae.	Recorded by: Owen McConnell Granville Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: Owen McConnell Granville Co. Comment:	Recorded by: Steve Hall and Bo Sullivan Ashe Co. Comment: Male seen at moth bait
	Recorded by: Steve Hall and Bo Sullivan Ashe Co. Comment: Male seen at moth bait	Recorded by: Steve Hall and Bo Sullivan Ashe Co. Comment: Male seen at moth bait
	Recorded by: Steve Hall and Bo Sullivan Ashe Co. Comment: Male seen at moth bait

Photo Gallery for Leiobunum nigropalpi No common name