Loxosceles rufescens ( Dufour, 1820 )

Lotz, L. N., 2012, Present status of Sicariidae (Arachnida: Araneae) in the Afrotropical region, Zootaxa 3522, pp. 1-41 : 29-30

Loxosceles rufescens ( Dufour, 1820)

( Figs. 9G, 10G)

Scytodes rufescens Dufour, 1820: 203 , pl. 76, f. 5; Audouin, 1826: 379, pl. 5, f. 2.

Loxosceles citigrada Heineken & Lowe , in Lowe, 1832: 322, pl. 48, f. 1–14.

Scytodes erythrocephala C. L. Koch, 1838: 90 , f. 399–400.

Scytodes distincta Lucas, 1846: 104 , pl. 2, f. 4.

Omosita rufescens Simon, 1864: 50 .

Scytodes pallida Blackwall, 1865: 100 .

Loxosceles erythrocephala Simon, 1873: 38 ; Pavesi, 1876: 435; Simon, 1914: 75, f. 127.

Loxosceles rufescens Simon, 1873: 38 ; Bösenberg & Strand, 1906: 113, pl. 6, f. 69, pl. 16, f. 450; Simon, 1914: 75, f. 126;. Strand, 1918: 91, pl. 2, f. 28–29; Petrunkevitch, 1929: 108, f. 92–96; Bristowe, 1938: 311, f. 6; Comstock, 1940: 108, f. 96; Yaginuma, 1940: 129, f. 3; Gertsch, 1958: 31, f. 60–62, 73; Bücherl, 1961: 213, f. 2a; Lee, 1966: 24, f. 5a–d; Gertsch, 1967: 144, pl. 10, f. 5–8; Brignoli, 1969: 156, f. 19–62; Canese, 1972: 83, f. 1; Brignoli, 1976: 144, f. 9–10; Paik, 1978: 572, f. 6–13; Yin, Wang & Hu, 1983: 33, f. 1B, 3B; Gertsch & Ennik, 1983: 353, f. 341–343, 348–351; Lehtinen, 1986: 153, f. 4–5, 7; Yaginuma, 1986: 18, f. 12.1; 1987: 155, f. 20.9; Xu, 1987: 3, f. 4A–D; Chen & Gao, 1990: 37, f. 39a–b; Chen & Zhang, 1991: 68, f. 60.1–3; Dunin, 1992: 75, f. 1, 5, 10–12; Song, Zhu & Chen, 1999: 49, f. 19M–N, Q; Namkung, 2002: 30, f. 2.1a–c; Saaristo, 2002: 29 , f. 84–86; Namkung, 2003: 30, f. 2.1a–c; Ono, 2009: 122, f. 1–6; Le Peru, 2011: 111, f. 112.

Spermophora comoroensis Butler, 1879: 43 , pl. I, f. 5.

Loxosceles compactilis Simon, 1881: 6 .

Loxosceles distincta Simon, 1908: 422 .

Loxosceles marylandicus Muma, 1944: 2 , f. 1.

Loxosceles indrabeles Tikader, 1963: 23 , f. 1a–c.

Loxosceles ruescens Yoo & Kim, 2002: 25 , f. 4.

Types: Scytodes rufescens Dufour, 1820 ♂ Holotype from Spain: Valencia province, near Sagunto [original specimen lost]. Loxosceles marylandicus Muma, 1944 ♂ Holotype from USA: Maryland, College Park (AMNH); Other types unknown as the puplications could not be found. [no types seen].

Note: No specimens of this species were looked at, but it is included here for completeness, as it occurs in the Afrotropical region in published records.

Diagnosis: Male palp tibia long, cymbium short, similar to L. fontainei , L. foutadjalloni , L. rufipes and L. vonwredei ; differing from L. fontainei , L. foutadjalloni and L. rufipes in the palp tibia length/height ratio being less than 2.0; differing from L. vonwredei in the palp tibia length/height ratio being less than 2.5 ( Fig. 9G). Female spermathecae consist of one short round sac; copulatory tube wide, slightly narrowing to spermathecae, with a sclerotized strip lateral; differing from all other species in this respect, the closest species being L. foutadjalloni from which it differs in having only one spermathecae to a side ( Fig. 10G).

Female: (from Gertsch & Ennik 1983): TL = 7.5; CL = 3.2; CW = 2.7; CLL = 0.51. AME-LE 0.26; Eye diameter 0.13.

Leg measurements:

I II III IV Palp Femur 4.35 4.70 4.00 4.60 1.20 Patella 1.00 1.00 0.90 1.00 0.40 Tibia 4.50 4.80 3.60 4.20 0.80 Metatarsus 4.50 5.10 4.30 5.05 – Tarsus 1.15 1.25 1.10 1.20 1.20 Total 15.50 16.85 13.90 16.05 3.60

Male: (from Gertsch & Ennik 1983): TL = 7.0; CL = 3.0; CW = 2.6; CLL = 0.4. AME-LE 0.13; Eye diameter 0.13.

Leg measurements:

I II III IV Palp Femur 5.40 6.25 5.00 5.30 1.30 Patella 1.05 1.10 1.00 1.00 0.40 Tibia 6.20 7.40 5.00 5.50 1.00 Metatarsus 6.20 7.60 6.00 7.00 – Tarsus 1.30 1.35 1.15 1.40 0.50 Total 20.15 23.70 18.15 20.20 3.20

Distribution: Loxosceles rufescens is a cosmopolitan species.