Sicariidae  Keyserling, 1880 / Loxosceles  Heineken & Lowe, 1832   5 species

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: 7.0-7.5 mm
Female

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: 7.0-7.5 mm
Additional 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., 2022)

Distribution
  Presence
  Not established
  No data
Global distribution (WSC 2024): Southern Europe, northern Africa to Iran, Afghanistan. Introduced to USA, Mexico, Peru, Macaronesia, South Africa, India, China, Japan, Korea, Laos, Thailand, Philippines, Australia, Hawaii
Phenology
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
 male  female
Females also in spring
Figures
Distribution List

"No references" does not mean that the species does not occur in this country, but that we have not yet inserted the reference for it. We are working on it.

Albania   (Naumova & Deltshev, 2021; Vrenozi, 2022) ||| Algeria   (Brignoli, 1976a; Benhacene et al., 2023) ||| Croatia   (Grbac et al., 2019) ||| Cyprus   (Bosmans et al., 2019c) ||| Czechia   (Řezáč et al., 2021) ||| Egypt   (El-Hennawy, 2017a) ||| France   (Le Peru, 2007) ||| France / Corsica   (Le Peru, 2007) ||| Greece   (Bosmans & Chatzaki, 2005) ||| Greece / Crete   (Bosmans et al., 2013) ||| Italy   (Pantini & Isaia, 2019) ||| Italy / Sardinia   (Pantini & Isaia, 2019) ||| Italy / Sicily   (Pantini & Isaia, 2019) ||| Libya   (Brignoli, 1976a) ||| Malta   (Pfliegler et al., 2017) ||| Morocco   (Brignoli, 1976a) ||| Netherlands   (van Helsdingen, 2024) ||| Portugal   (Branco et al., 2019) ||| Spain   (Branco et al., 2019) ||| Spain / Balearic Islands   (Branco et al., 2019) ||| Switzerland   (Hänggi & Stäubli, 2012) ||| Tunisia   (Bosmans, 2003) ||| Turkey (Asia)   (Danışman et al., 2024a) |||
References

Benhacene R, Adjami A, Hadjeb A, Kermiche K, Ouakid M L (2023) Bibliographic checklist of the Algerian spider fauna (Araneae). Zootaxa 5352: 301-357 pdf

Bosmans R (2003) A checklist of the spiders of Tunisia, with description of a new species of Palliduphantes Saaristo & Tanasevitch (Araneae: Linyphiidae). Kaupia - Darmstädter Beiträge zur Naturgeschichte 12: 89-109 pdf

Bosmans R, Chatzaki M (2005) A catalogue of the spiders of Greece – a critical review of all spider species cited from Greece with their localities. Nieuwsbrief van de Belgische arachnologische Vereniging 20 (2, suppl.): 1-124 pdf

Bosmans R, Van Keer J, Russell-Smith A, Hadjiconstantis M, Komnenov M, Bosselaers J, Huber S, McCowan D, Snazell R, Decae A, Zoumides C, Kielhorn K-H, Oger P (2019c) Spiders of Cyprus (Araneae). A catalogue of all currently known species from Cyprus. Newsletter of the Belgian Arachnological Society 34, Suppl. 1: 1-173 pdf

Bosmans R, Van Keer J, Russell-Smith A, Kronestedt T, Alderweireldt M, Bosselaers J, De Koninck H (2013) Spiders of Crete (Araneae). A catalogue of all currently known species from the Greek island of Crete. Nieuwsbrief van de Belgische Arachnologische Vereniging 28 (Suppl. 1): 1-147 pdf

Branco V V, Morano E, Cardoso P (2019) An update to the Iberian spider checklist (Araneae). Zootaxa 4614: 201-254 pdf

Brignoli P M (1976a) Beiträge zur Kenntnis der Scytodidae (Araneae). Revue Suisse de Zoologie 83: 125-191 pdf

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 pdf

Danışman T, Kunt K B, Özkütük R S, Coşar İ (2024a) The checklist of the spiders of Turkey. Version 2024 [last updated 01 January 2024], online at http://www.spidersofturkey.info pdf

El-Hennawy H K (2017a) A list of Egyptian spiders (revised in 2017). Serket 15: 167-183 pdf

Gertsch W J, Ennik F (1983) The spider genus Loxosceles in North America, Central America, and the West Indies (Araneae, Loxoscelidae). Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 175: 264-360 pdf

Grbac I, Katušić L, Lukić M (2019) Catalogue of spiders (Araneae) deposited in the Croatian Natural History Museum. Natura Croatica 28: 185-269 pdf

Hänggi A, Stäubli A (2012) Nachträge zum „Katalog der schweizerischen Spinnen“: 4. Neunachweise von 2002 bis 2011. Arachnologische Mitteilungen 44: 59-76 pdf

Helsdingen P J van (2024) Catalogus van de Nederlandse spinnen. Versie 2024.3. 252 pp. pdf

Le Peru B (2007) Catalogue et répartition des araignées de France. Revue Arachnologique 16: 1-468 pdf

Logunov D V (2013b) On a small spider collection from Cyprus (Arachnida: Araneae). Newsletter of the British Arachnological Society 127: 4-5 pdf

Mammola S, Pavlek M, Huber B A, Ballarin F, Tolve M, Čupić I, Hesselberg T, Lunghi E, Mouron S, Graco-Roza C, Cardoso P (2022) A trait database and updated checklist for European subterranean spiders. Scientific Data 9(236): 1-13 pdf

Naumova M, Deltshev C (2021) New faunistic and taxonomic notes on the haplogyne and cribellate spiders (Araneae: Dictynidae, Dysderidae, Eresidae, Filistatidae, Sicariidae) from three Balkan countries. Acta Zoologica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae 67: 63-76 pdf

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 pdf

Pantini P, Isaia M (2019) Araneae.it: the online catalog of Italian spiders, with addenda on other arachnid orders occurring in Italy (Arachnida: Araneae, Opiliones, Palpigradi, Pseudoscorpionida, Scorpiones, Solifugae). Fragmenta Entomologica 51: 127-152 pdf

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 pdf

Řezáč M, Růžička V, Hula V, Dolanský J, Machač O, Roušar A (2021) Spiders newly observed in Czechia in recent years – overlooked or invasive species? BioInvasions Records 10: 555-566 pdf

Růžička V, Dolanský J (2018) Pavouci České republiky [Spiders of the Czech Republic]. Pavouk 45: 2-3 pdf

Taberlet J-P (unpubl.)

Vrenozi B (2022) Venomous spiders of Albania – does an increase of temperature influence the toxicity of spider venom? Toxicon X 15 (100135): 1-8 pdf

WSC (2024) World Spider Catalog. Version 25.0. Natural History Museum Bern, online at http://wsc.nmbe.ch (22.01.2024) doi: 10.24436/2 pdf

Updates
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