Pholcomma hirsuta Emerton

Levi, Herbert W., 1957, The North American spider genera Paratheridula, Tekellina, Pholcomma and Archerius (Araneae: Theridiidae), Transactions of the American Microscopical Society 76 (2), pp. 105-115 : 109-113

Pholcomma hirsuta Emerton . Figs. 19-27,48 on Map

Pholcomma hirsutum Emerton, 1882 ,Trans. Conn. Acad. Sci.,6: 29, PI. 6,Fig. 6,9, d 1. Marx, 1890,Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., 12: 532; 1892, Proc. Ent. Soc. Wash., p. 157. Banks, 1892, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, p. 31. Emerton, 1913,Appalachia, 12: 155.

Ancylorrhanis hirsuta, Simon, 1894 , Histoire naturelle des Araignées, 1: 592. Banks, 1895, Jour. New York Ent. Soc., 3: 85; 1903, Proc. Ent. Soc. Wash., 5: 106. Bryant, 1908,Occas. Papers Boston Soc. Nat. Hist., 7: 18. Banks, 1910,Bull. U. S. Nat. Mus., 72: 24. Petrunkevitch, 1911, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., 29: 165. Comstock, 1912, The spider book, p. 368. Banks, 1916, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, p. 71. Barrows, 1918, Ohio Jour. Sci.,18: 302. Bishop and Crosby, 1926,Jour. Elisha Mitchell Sci. Soc., 41:175. Crosby and Bishop, 1928,Mem. Cornell Univ. Agr. Exp. Sta" 101: 1038. Kaston, 1938,Bull. Conn. Geol, Nat. Hist. Surv., 60: 185. Comstock,1940,The spider book, rev. ed., p. 382. Roewer, 1942,Katalog der Araneae, 1: 391. Muma, 1945, Bull. Univ. Maryland Agr. Exp. Sta., A38: 24. Kaston, 1948,Bull. Conn. Geol. Nat. Hist. Surv., 70:94,Figs. 105-110, ♀, ♂. Barnes, 1953,Ecol. Mongr., 23: 321. Kaston, 1953, How to know the spiders, p. 155, Figs. 393, 394,♀,♂. Levi and Field, 1954, Amer. Midland Nat., 51: 442. Bonnet, 1955,Bibliographia Araneorum, 2: 319.

Female: Carapace, sternum brown; legs lighter brown. Abdomen brownish white, sometimes with dusky ring around spinnerets and a dusky patch on each side of abdomen dorsum. Carapace, sternum heavily sclerotized, massive. Anterior median eyes smaller than others, one. diameter apart, one-quarter diameter from laterals. Posterior medians one. and one-third diameters apart, two-thirds diameter from laterals. Epigynum a heavily sclerotized plate with two dark spots side by. side (Fig. 25). Total length, 1.3-1.6 mm. A female from Wisconsin measured: total length, 1.6 mm.; carapace, 0.70 mm. long, 0.62 mm. wide; first patella and tibia, 0.59 mm; second, 0.55 mm.; third, 0.47 mm.; fourth femur, 0.58 mm.; patella and tibia, 0.65 mm.; meta¬ tarsus, 0.35 mm.; tarsus’ 0.35 mm. long.

Male: Ventral scutum illustrated by figure 27, palpus by figures 19, 20 and 21. Total length, 1.3-1.6 mm. Measurements of a specimen from Wisconsin: total length, 1.4 mm.; carapace, 0.71 mm. long, 0.65 mm. wide, 0.45 mm. high; first femur, 0.71 mm. long; patella and tibia, 0.75 mm. long; metatarsus, 0.39 mm. long; tarsus’ 0.39 mm. long; second patella and tibia, 0.67 mm. long; third, 0.52 mm. long; fourth, 0.72 mm. long.

The largest specimens examined all came from northern localities, the smallest from the south. Southern specimens more commonly have dusky patches on abdomen than do northern ones.

In Wisconsin this species is found only in leaf litter of climax maple and basswood forests. Wherever it occurs, it is very abundant. In other areas it apparently has been collected also from litter of climax maple and beech forests.

Type locality: Syntypes from Mt. Carmel, Hamden, Connecticut, in the Museum of Comparative Zoology .

Records: New Hampshire: Lake Winnepesaukee. Connecticut: (Kaston, 1948). Fairfield Co.; Hartford Co. New York: (Crosby and Bishop, 1928). Nassau Co.; Orange Co. New Jersey: Mercer Co. Sussex Co. Maryland: (Muma, 1945). District of Columbia: (Marx 1892). Ohio: (Barrows, 1918). Virginia: (Bishop and Crosby, 1926) Kentucky: Powell Co. Tennessee: Great Smoky Mountains National Park; Robertson Co. North Carolina: (Bishop and Crosby, 1926) Carteret Co. Georgia: Lowndes Co. Florida: Alachua Co.; Marion Co.; Orange Co.; Pinellas Co. Mississippi: Wilkinson Co. Michigan Leelanau Co. Indiana: Porter Co. W is con sin: Door Co.; Sauk Co.