Loxosceles rufescens (Dufour, 1820)
Description
Male
Pedipalp male: with thickened tibia. Embolus curved, about as long as width of bulbus. Prosoma orange-brown. Prosoma 3 mm long. Clypeus narrower than in female. Legs yellow to orange. Opisthosoma grey to yellowish brown
Body length male: 7-7.5 mmFemale
Vulva with receptacula close together, produced into rounded lobes projecting to inner side. Prosoma 3.2 mm long. Prosoma reddish yellow, darker in the front, with sparse hairs. Clypeus wide, almost 3 diameters of median eyes. Legs uniformly reddish yellow. Opisthosoma greyish to reddish yellow.
Body length female: 7-7.5 mmAdditional information
In dry habitats, under stones, rock crevices. Often in and around houses and buildings.
This species can bite humans, as also all other Loxosceles species in the world. In contrast to all other spider bites, this bite does not cause pain but could cause necrotic lesions. Most bites cause moderate local itchiness and redness, self-healing without complications within short time. Severer cases are rare and may include necrotic injuries, sometimes healing only after months. However, such cases are rare for this European species.
Since a few decades, this species shows some spreading tendencies within Europe. Nevertheless, it shall not be listed as alien or invasive because it is native for Europe.
Troglophile species (Mammola et al. 2018)
Distribution
Phenology
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Figures
Pedipalp, retrolateral view
(Gertsch & Ennik 1983)
Bulbus and embolus
(Gertsch & Ennik 1983)
Palpal tibia, dorsal view
(Gertsch & Ennik 1983)
Vulva
(Gertsch & Ennik 1983)
Vulva
(Gertsch & Ennik 1983)
Vulva
(Gertsch & Ennik 1983)
Vulva
(Crespo et al. 2009b)
Habitus
(Gertsch & Ennik 1983)
References
Crespo L C, Cardoso P, Henriques S, Gaspar C (2009b) Spiders (Araneae) from Porto Santo (Madeira, Portgal): Additions to the current knowledge. Boletín de la Sociedad Entomologica Aragonesa 45: 471-475
Danışman T, Kunt K B, Özkütük R S (2019) The checklist of the spiders of Turkey. Version 2018 [last updated 1 January 2019], online at http://www.spidersofturkey.info
Gertsch W J, Ennik F (1983) The spider genus Loxosceles in North America, Central America, and the West Indies (Araneae, Loxoscelidae). Bull Am Mus nat Hist 175: 264-360
Hänggi A, Stäubli A (2012) Nachträge zum „Katalog der schweizerischen Spinnen“: 4. Neunachweise von 2002 bis 2011. Arachnologische Mitteilungen 44: 59-76
Helsdingen P J van (2010a) Araneae. In: Fauna Europaea Database (Version 2010.1), online at www.european-arachnology.org
Le Peru B (2011) The spiders of Europe, a synthesis of data: Volume 1 Atypidae to Theridiidae. Mémoires de la Société Linnéenne de Lyon 2: 1-522 
Mammola S, Cardoso P, Ribera C, Pavlek M, Isaia M (2018b) A synthesis on cave-dwelling spiders in Europe. Zoological Systematics and Evolutionary Research 56: 301-316
Nentwig W, Gnädinger M, Fuchs J, Ceschi A (2013) A two year study of verified spider bites in Switzerland and a review of the European spider bite literature. Toxicon 73: 104-110
Pantini P, Isaia M (2018) Checklist of the Italian spiders (version June 2018). online at http://www.museoscienzebergamo.it/web/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=96&Itemid=94
Pfliegler W A, Schönhofer A, Niedbała W, Vella P, Sciberras A, Vella A (2017) New records of mites (Acari) and harvestmen (Opiliones) from Malta with a preliminary checklist of Maltese Arachnida. Soil Organisms 89: 85-110
Růžička V, Dolanský J (2018) Pavouci České republiky [Spiders of the Czech Republic]. Pavouk 45: 2-3
World Spider Catalog (2019) World Spider Catalog, version 20.0. Natural History Museum Bern, online at http://wsc.nmbe.ch (20.01.2019) doi: 10.24436/2