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| Loxosceles vicentei Taucare-Ríos, Brescovit & Villablanca, 2022 photos by Vicente Villablanca |
ABSTRACT
A new species of Loxosceles of the laeta species-group, L. vicentei sp. nov., found in Chile is described and illustrated. The male of this species can be distinguished from that of other species by having a long and straight embolus with a truncated tip. The female is distinguished by the spermatheca with a large base and two slender, curved receptacles in both sides.
Keywords: Chilean recluse spider, desert, endemism, laeta species-group, medically important spider
Family Sicariidae Keyserling, 1880
Genus Loxosceles Heineken & Lowe, 1832
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| Live specimens of Loxosceles vicentei sp. nov. found under rocks in type locality A. Female paratype, dorsal view. B. Male holotype, dorsal view. photos by Vicente Villablanca |
Loxosceles vicentei sp. nov.
Diagnosis. Loxosceles vicentei sp. nov. can be confused in Chile only with L. coquimbo, but
can be distinguished by the presence of dark-brown spots on carapace (Figs. 1A-B). The
male resembles L. coquimbo by its palp with a globose bulb, but differs by having a long
embolus, straight with a truncated tip (Figs. 2 A-C), while in L. coquimbo the embolus is
short and sinuous at tip; in other species of laeta species-group such as L. laeta and L. surca
Gertsch, 1967 the embolus is slender and curved. In L. vicentei sp. nov. the male palpal
tibia is shorter (1.5 long, 0.6 wide) (Figs. 2 A-B) than in L. coquimbo (2.1 long, 0.5 wide). The
females can be distinguished from other Chilean species by the spermatheca with large
base and two slender, curved receptacles in both sides. The seminal receptacles of females
of L. vicentei sp. nov. and L. coquimbo are similar, however in the new species the distance
between the base of the receptacles is larger (1.3 times) than in L. coquimbo (Fig. 2D).
Etymology. The specific name is a patronymic for Vicente Villablanca, son of Javier
Villablanca and the collector of the type material.
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| Habitat of Loxosceles vicentei sp. nov. in the type locality. |
Andrés Taucare-Ríos, Antonio D. Brescovit and Javier Villablanca. 2022. A New Species of Loxosceles Heineken & Lowe, 1832 (Araneae: Sicariidae) from Chile. Revista Chilena De Entomología. 48(1); biotaxa.org/RCE/article/view/74676
Researchgate.net/publication/359630854_A_new_species_of_Loxosceles_from_Chile
