Two new Brazilian species of Loxosceles Heinecken & Lowe, 1832 with remarks on amazonica and rufescens groups (Araneae, Sicariidae)

By

Fukushima, Caroline Sayuri
Andrade, Rute Maria Gonçalves de.
Bertani, Rogério

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2017

Original Publication

ZooKeys

Volume

667

Pages

67-94

Subjects

Alagoas , Brown recluse spider , Caatinga , cave , Rio Grande do Norte

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Sofia, Bulgaria Pensoft Publishers

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.667.11369

 

Abstract

The genus Loxosceles Heinecken & Lowe, 1832 has 91 representatives in the New World. Despite medical relevancy, the taxonomy of the genus is poorly understood. South American Loxosceles were divided into four groups of species: laeta, spadicea, gaucho and amazonica; this last one has a single species, Loxosceles amazonica Gertsch, 1967. More recently, the natural occurrence of L. amazonica in the New World has been questioned, due to the strong morphological resemblance and close phylogenetic relationship with Old World species, mainly with Loxosceles rufescens (Dufour, 1820). Herein, L. amazonica is rediagnosed and its morphological variation and natural distribution discussed. Two new species closely related to it from northeastern Brazil are also described, Loxosceles willianilsoni sp. n., from the state of Rio Grande do Norte, and Loxosceles muriciensis sp. n., from the state of Alagoas. The relationships of these new species with L. amazonica and L. rufescens are discussed.